SB56 - Revises provisions relating to driving a vehicle or operating a vessel under the influence. (BDR 43-243)

S.B. 56 - *SB56* SENATE BILL NO. 56–COMMITTEE ON GROWTH AND INFRASTRUCTURE (ON BEHALF OF THE NEVADA HIGHWAY PATROL DIVISION OF THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY) PREFILED NOVEMBER 20, 2024 ____________ Referred to Committee on Growth and Infrastructure SUMMARY—Revises provisions relating to driving a vehicle or operating a vessel under the influence. (BDR 43-243) FISCAL NOTE: Effect on Local Government: Increases or Newly Provides for Term of Imprisonment in County or City Jail or Detention Facility. Effect on the State: Yes. ~ EXPLANATION – Matter in bolded italics is new; matter between brackets [omitted material] is material to be omitted. AN ACT relating to public safety; establishing requirements for the reporting by law enforcement agencies of certain information concerning violations of the prohibition against driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol or certain controlled substances; revising provisions governing the measurement of the concentration of alcohol in the blood or breath of a person who was driving, operating or in actual physical control of certain vehicles or vessels; and providing other matters properly relating thereto. Legislative Counsel’s Digest: Existing law prohibits a person from driving or being in actual physical control 1 of a vehicle on a highway or certain other premises while under the influence of 2 alcohol or certain controlled substances. (NRS 484C.110, 484C.120, 484C.130, 3 484C.430) Section 1 of this bill requires: (1) the Nevada Highway Patrol to 4 establish a format to be used by law enforcement agencies in this State to 5 electronically submit to the Office of Traffic Safety of the Department of Public 6 Safety information concerning violations of this prohibition; and (2) law 7 enforcement agencies in this State, to the extent that resources are available, to 8 submit electronically to the Office of Traffic Safety, in that format, information 9 concerning such violations. 10 – 2 – - *SB56* Under existing law, a person commits the offense of driving or being in actual 11 physical control of a vehicle on a highway or certain other premises, or operating or 12 being in actual physical control of a vessel under way on the waters of this State, 13 while under the influence of alcohol, if the person is found by measurement within 14 2 hours after driving, operating or being in actual physical control of the vehicle or 15 vessel to have a concentration of alcohol in his or her blood or breath which 16 exceeds certain levels. (NRS 484C.110, 484C.120, 484C.130, 484C.430, 488.410, 17 488.420, 488.425) Sections 2-8 of this bill increase this period from 2 hours to 3 18 hours. 19 THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEVADA, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND ASSEMBLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: Section 1. Chapter 484C of NRS is hereby amended by adding 1 thereto a new section to read as follows: 2 1. The Nevada Highway Patrol shall establish a format for 3 use by each law enforcement agency in this State to electronically 4 submit to the Office of Traffic Safety of the Department of Public 5 Safety information concerning violations of NRS 484C.110, 6 484C.120, 484C.130 and 484C.430. 7 2. To the extent that resources are available, each law 8 enforcement agency in this State shall submit electronically to the 9 Office of Traffic Safety of the Department of Public Safety, in the 10 format established pursuant to subsection 1, any information 11 requested by the Office of Traffic Safety concerning violations of 12 NRS 484C.110, 484C.120, 484C.130 and 484C.430. 13 Sec. 2. NRS 484C.110 is hereby amended to read as follows: 14 484C.110 1. It is unlawful for any person who: 15 (a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; 16 (b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her 17 blood or breath; or 18 (c) Is found by measurement within [2] 3 hours after driving or 19 being in actual physical control of a vehicle to have a concentration 20 of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or breath, 21  to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway 22 or on premises to which the public has access. 23 2. It is unlawful for any person who: 24 (a) Is under the influence of a controlled substance; 25 (b) Is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a 26 controlled substance; or 27 (c) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, 28 poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any 29 of these, to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely 30 driving or exercising actual physical control of a vehicle, 31  to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway 32 or on premises to which the public has access. The fact that any 33 – 3 – - *SB56* person charged with a violation of this subsection is or has been 1 entitled to use that drug under the laws of this State is not a defense 2 against any charge of violating this subsection. 3 3. It is unlawful for any person to drive or be in actual physical 4 control of a vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public 5 has access with an amount of any of the following prohibited 6 substances in his or her blood or urine that is equal to or greater 7 than: 8 9 Urine Blood 10 Nanograms Nanograms 11 Prohibited substance per milliliter per milliliter 12 13 (a) Amphetamine 500 100 14 (b) Cocaine 150 50 15 (c) Cocaine metabolite 150 50 16 (d) Heroin 2,000 50 17 (e) Heroin metabolite: 18 (1) Morphine 2,000 50 19 (2) 6-monoacetyl morphine 10 10 20 (f) Lysergic acid diethylamide 25 10 21 (g) Methamphetamine 500 100 22 (h) Phencyclidine 25 10 23 24 4. For any violation that is punishable pursuant to paragraph 25 (c) of subsection 1 of NRS 484C.400, it is unlawful for any person 26 to drive or be in actual physical control of a vehicle on a highway or 27 on premises to which the public has access with an amount of any of 28 the following prohibited substances in his or her blood that is equal 29 to or greater than: 30 31 Blood 32 Nanograms 33 Prohibited substance per milliliter 34 35 (a) Marijuana (delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol) 2 36 (b) Marijuana metabolite (11-OH-tetrahydrocannabinol) 5 37 38 5. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the 39 evidence, it is an affirmative defense under paragraph (c) of 40 subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of 41 alcohol after driving or being in actual physical control of the 42 vehicle, and before his or her blood or breath was tested, to cause 43 the defendant to have a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in 44 his or her blood or breath. A defendant who intends to offer this 45 – 4 – - *SB56* defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, not less than 14 days 1 before the trial or hearing or at such other time as the court may 2 direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a written notice of 3 that intent. 4 6. A person who violates any provision of this section may be 5 subject to any additional penalty set forth in NRS 484B.130 or 6 484B.135. 7 Sec. 3. NRS 484C.120 is hereby amended to read as follows: 8 484C.120 1. It is unlawful for any person who: 9 (a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; 10 (b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.04 or more but less than 11 0.08 in his or her blood or breath; or 12 (c) Is found by measurement within [2] 3 hours after driving or 13 being in actual physical control of a commercial motor vehicle to 14 have a concentration of alcohol of 0.04 or more but less than 0.08 in 15 his or her blood or breath, 16  to drive or be in actual physical control of a commercial motor 17 vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access. 18 2. It is unlawful for any person who: 19 (a) Is under the influence of a controlled substance; 20 (b) Is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a 21 controlled substance; or 22 (c) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, 23 poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any 24 of these, to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely 25 driving or exercising actual physical control of a commercial motor 26 vehicle, 27  to drive or be in actual physical control of a commercial motor 28 vehicle on a highway or on premises to which the public has access. 29 The fact that any person charged with a violation of this subsection 30 is or has been entitled to use that drug under the laws of this State is 31 not a defense against any charge of violating this subsection. 32 3. It is unlawful for any person to drive or be in actual physical 33 control of a commercial motor vehicle on a highway or on premises 34 to which the public has access with any prohibited substance in his 35 or her blood or urine. As used in this subsection, “prohibited 36 substance” means any substance described in 21 C.F.R. § 1308.11. 37 4. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the 38 evidence, it is an affirmative defense under paragraph (c) of 39 subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a sufficient quantity of 40 alcohol after driving or being in actual physical control of the 41 commercial motor vehicle, and before his or her blood or breath was 42 tested, to cause the defendant to have a concentration of alcohol of 43 0.04 or more in his or her blood or breath. A defendant who intends 44 to offer this defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, not less 45 – 5 – - *SB56* than 14 days before the trial or hearing or at such other time as the 1 court may direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a written 2 notice of that intent. 3 5. A person who violates any provision of this section may be 4 subject to any additional penalty set forth in NRS 483.939, 5 484B.130 or 484B.135. 6 6. As used in this section: 7 (a) “Commercial motor vehicle” means a motor vehicle or 8 combination of motor vehicles used in commerce to transport 9 passengers or property if the motor vehicle: 10 (1) Has a gross combination weight rating of 26,001 or more 11 pounds which includes a towed unit with a gross vehicle weight 12 rating of more than 10,000 pounds; 13 (2) Has a gross vehicle weight rating of 26,001 or more 14 pounds; 15 (3) Is designed to transport 16 or more passengers, including 16 the driver; or 17 (4) Regardless of size, is used in the transportation of 18 materials which are considered to be hazardous for the purposes of 19 the federal Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. §§ 20 5101 et seq., and for which the display of identifying placards is 21 required pursuant to 49 C.F.R. Part 172, Subpart F. 22 (b) The phrase “concentration of alcohol of 0.04 or more but 23 less than 0.08 in his or her blood or breath” means 0.04 gram or 24 more but less than 0.08 gram of alcohol per 100 milliliters of the 25 blood of a person or per 210 liters of his or her breath. 26 Sec. 4. NRS 484C.130 is hereby amended to read as follows: 27 484C.130 1. A person commits vehicular homicide if the 28 person: 29 (a) Drives or is in actual physical control of a vehicle on or off 30 the highways of this State and: 31 (1) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; 32 (2) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or 33 her blood or breath; 34 (3) Is found by measurement within [2] 3 hours after driving 35 or being in actual physical control of a vehicle to have a 36 concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or 37 breath; 38 (4) Is under the influence of a controlled substance or is 39 under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled 40 substance; 41 (5) Inhales, ingests, applies or otherwise uses any chemical, 42 poison or organic solvent, or any compound or combination of any 43 of these, to a degree which renders the person incapable of safely 44 driving or exercising actual physical control of a vehicle; or 45 – 6 – - *SB56* (6) Has a prohibited substance in his or her blood or urine, as 1 applicable, in an amount that is equal to or greater than the amount 2 set forth in subsection 3 or 4 of NRS 484C.110; 3 (b) Proximately causes the death of another person while driving 4 or in actual physical control of a vehicle on or off the highways of 5 this State; and 6 (c) Has previously been convicted of at least three offenses. 7 2. If consumption is proven by a preponderance of the 8 evidence, it is an affirmative defense under subparagraph (3) of 9 paragraph (a) of subsection 1 that the defendant consumed a 10 sufficient quantity of alcohol after driving or being in actual 11 physical control of the vehicle, and before his or her blood or breath 12 was tested, to cause the defendant to have a concentration of alcohol 13 of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or breath. A defendant who 14 intends to offer this defense at a trial or preliminary hearing must, 15 not less than 14 days before the trial or hearing or at such other time 16 as the court may direct, file and serve on the prosecuting attorney a 17 written notice of that intent. 18 3. As used in this section, “offense” means: 19 (a) A violation of NRS 484C.110, 484C.120 or 484C.430; 20 (b) A homicide resulting from driving or being in actual 21 physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of 22 intoxicating liquor or a controlled substance or resulting from any 23 other conduct prohibited by this section or NRS 484C.110 or 24 484C.430; or 25 (c) A violation of a law of any other jurisdiction that prohibits 26 the same or similar conduct as set forth in paragraph (a) or (b). 27 Sec. 5. NRS 484C.430 is hereby amended to read as follows: 28 484C.430 1. Unless a greater penalty is provided pursuant to 29 NRS 484C.440, a person who: 30 (a) Is under the influence of intoxicating liquor; 31 (b) Has a concentration of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her 32 blood or breath; 33 (c) Is found by measurement within [2] 3 hours after driving or 34 being in actual physical control of a vehicle to have a concentration 35 of alcohol of 0.08 or more in his or her blood or breath; 36 (d) Is under the influence of a controlled substance or is under 37 the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled 38 substance; 39 (e [Text truncated for display. Full text available on LegiScan.]