1998 Minnesota Statutes

     169.1211 Alcohol-related driving by commercial vehicle 
  drivers. 

    Subdivision 1.    Crimes.  (a) It is a crime for any 
 person to drive, operate, or be in physical control of any 
 commercial motor vehicle within this state or upon the ice of 
 any boundary water of this state: 

    (1) when the person's alcohol concentration is 0.04 or more 
 but less than 0.20; 

    (2) when the person's alcohol concentration as measured 
 within two hours of the time of driving, operating, or being in 
 physical control of the commercial motor vehicle is 0.04 or more 
 but less than 0.20; or 

    (3) when the person's alcohol concentration at the time, or 
 as measured within two hours of the time, of driving, operating, 
 or being in physical control of the commercial motor vehicle is 
 0.20 or more.  

    (b) It is a crime for any person to drive, operate, or be 
 in physical control of any class of school bus or Head Start bus 
 within this state or upon the ice of any boundary water of this 
 state when there is physical evidence present in the person's 
 body of the consumption of any alcohol. 

    Subd. 2.    Arrest.  A peace officer may lawfully arrest 
 a person for violation of subdivision 1 without a warrant upon 
 probable cause, without regard to whether the violation was 
 committed in the officer's presence.  

    When a peace officer has probable cause to believe that a 
 person is violating subdivision 1, and before a stop or arrest 
 can be made the person escapes from the geographical limits of 
 the officer's jurisdiction, the officer in fresh pursuit of the 
 person may stop or arrest the person in another jurisdiction 
 within this state and may exercise the powers and perform the 
 duties of a peace officer under this section and sections 
 169.121 and 169.123.  An officer acting in fresh pursuit under 
 this subdivision is serving in the regular line of duty as fully 
 as though within the officer's jurisdiction.  

    The express grant of arrest powers in this subdivision does 
 not limit the arrest powers of peace officers under sections 
 626.65 to 626.70 or section 629.40 in cases of arrests for 
 violation of subdivision 1 or any other provision of law. 

    Subd. 3.    Evidence.  Upon the trial of any prosecution 
 arising out of acts alleged to have been committed by any person 
 arrested for violating subdivision 1, the court may admit 
 evidence of the amount of alcohol in the person's blood, breath, 
 or urine as shown by an analysis of those items. 

    If proven by a preponderance of the evidence, it shall be 
 an affirmative defense to a violation of subdivision 1, clause 
 (2), that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of 
 alcohol after the time of the violation and before the 
 administration of the evidentiary test to cause the defendant's 
 alcohol concentration to exceed 0.04.  This evidence may not be 
 admitted unless notice is given to the prosecution prior to the 
 omnibus or pretrial hearing in the matter.  

    The foregoing provisions do not limit the introduction of 
 any other competent evidence bearing upon the question whether 
 the person violated this section, including tests obtained more 
 than two hours after the alleged violation and results obtained 
 from partial tests on an infrared breath-testing instrument.  A 
 result from a partial test is the measurement obtained by 
 analyzing one adequate breath sample, as defined in section 
 169.123, subdivision 2b, paragraph (b). 

    Subd. 4.    Administrative penalty.  The commissioner of 
 public safety shall disqualify a person from operating a 
 commercial motor vehicle as provided under section 171.165, on 
 receipt of a record of conviction for a violation of this 
 section.  

    Subd. 5.    Criminal penalty.  (a) A person who violates 
 subdivision 1, paragraph (a), clause (1) or (2), or paragraph 
 (b), or an ordinance in conformity with any of them, is guilty 
 of a misdemeanor. 

    (b) A person is guilty of a gross misdemeanor under any of 
 the following circumstances: 

    (1) the person violates subdivision 1, paragraph (a), 
 clause (3); 

    (2) the person violates subdivision 1, paragraph (a), 
 clause (1) or (2), or paragraph (b), within five years of a 
 prior impaired driving conviction or a prior license revocation, 
 or within ten years of the first of two or more prior impaired 
 driving convictions, two or more prior license revocations, or a 
 combination of a prior impaired driving conviction and a prior 
 license revocation, based on separate incidents; 

    (3) the person violates section 169.26 while in violation 
 of subdivision 1; or 

    (4) the person violates subdivision 1 while a child under 
 the age of 16 is in the vehicle, if the child is more than 36 
 months younger than the violator. 

    Subd. 6.    Definitions.  As used in this section, the 
 terms "prior impaired driving conviction" and "prior license 
 revocation" have the meanings given them in section 169.121, 
 subdivision 3. 

    HIST: 1989 c 307 s 4; 1Sp1997 c 2 s 40-42