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Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program
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Commission on the Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program
Petition 332
Petition Information
Petition Title Petition to amend Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC35-30-150
Date Filed 10/1/2020    [Transmittal Sheet]
Petitioner Cynthia Hites 
Petitioner's Request

I, Cynthia Hites, as a citizen of the Commonwealth of Virginia, pursuant to Virginia Code § 2.2-4007, do humbly submit this petition for the following amendment, in the form of addition, to Virginia Administrative Code 24VAC35-30-150 (VASAP Policy and Procedures Manual).

The Virginia regulations state the following:

Section 150, Paragraph A:

\\"Noncompliance reporting.  When the offender has been deemed noncompliant by the case manager, that case manager, within five working days, shall notify in writing the referring court or agency and the offender.\\"

A major problem facing innocent citizens accused of interlock violations is simply the lack of information presented to them by ASAP.

Currently, the offender is given an accusation sheet from an ASAP that generally includes the time of the high reading, along with an accusation of not reaching zero, or \\"clearing out\\" within an allotted time.  But the only way clients can obtain data-log readings from the machine is to proactively request them, or have an attorney obtain them, and most people don\\'t know enough to do this.

VASAP consistently fails to understand that the vast majority of high IID readings are not due to consumed ethanol.  You\\'re just measuring biomarkers for disease and routine metabolic byproducts.

This is also a HIPAA violation, as the only, the ONLY substance the government should be analyzing someone\\'s waste for is C2H6O.  To invasively examine personal medical waste, and misconstrue ALL hydroxyl compounds as \\"ethanol\\" is criminal.

This is why the offender must be presented with the facts of the accusation and the opportunity to review the entire data-log from each alleged violation event is necessary.  If a non-ethanol specific device is now an acceptable standard in VA, and a warning indicator is not mandated between the .000 and .02 window, the potential for fraud is omnipresent.

Only when one is armed with their complete interlock data-logs can a person begin to understand what occurred.  In many cases, ketogenesis, and other metabolic processes create internal hydroxyl compounds detectable on sober breath.  The \\"fail\\" point then becomes a \\"pass\\" point, as people must wait for their bodies to cease alcohol production.

Several of my events took over 45 minutes to \\"clear out,\\" but when presented with the full data logs, it\\'s clear to see that if you start a car at zero, rise to .07 BrAC, then are back to zero in 24 minutes, the machine is not measuring ethanol.

7 of the 9 times I was accused, I actually started the car at .000 BAC, had high readings, then was back to .000 BAC in scientifically impossible spans of time.  Each of these 9 days\\' worth of readings are published on the FaceBook page entitled Virginia Ignition Interlock Forum.

Since a warning indicator is now not required between .000 and .02, the client will get a green light and assume they\\'re at zero.  In this case only the data logs, and nothing else, can prove innocence by showing the readings were passing below .02.  This is fraud and since the breath tests are unsupervised, the only evidence that can exonerate the client is the data shown in the full IID logs.

I propose the following language be added to amend this statute:

\\"All clients shall be presented with full interlock log information, to include all data within 24 hours prior to and after the alleged violation.\\"

Section 150, Paragraph A:

\\"Noncompliance reporting.  When the offender has been deemed noncompliant by the case manager, that case manager, within five working days, shall notify in writing the referring court or agency and the offender.  All clients shall be presented with full interlock log information, to include all data within 24 hours prior to and after the alleged violation.\\"

Every reading during the 24 hour period must be included because many times data recorded hours prior to and subsequent can disprove ethanol use, as opposed to only showing readings immediately around the high BrAC.

This system should never have been adopted for use on sober individuals.  The fuel cell does not solely measure ethanol, and most high readings are not liquor.

Due process is denied every single time someone is \\"restarted\\" without going to court.  False confession is ignored, and the entire IID system is, for lack of a better term, absolutely \\"rigged\\" against the offender.

If you\\'re going to totally abuse and misconstrue science, you must provide clients the exculpatory evidence to protect themselves.

Please amend the law to begin to protect Virginians from the unethical use of non-alcohol specific electrochemical fuel cell technology.

Sincerely,

Cynthia Hites

 
Agency's Plan

The Commission on VASAP will consider this petition at its December 11, 2020 meeting.

 
Comment Period Began 10/26/2020    Ended 12/4/2020
1 comments
Virginia Register Announcement Submitted on 10/1/2020
 
The Virginia Register of Regulations
 
Published on: 10/26/2020     Volume: 37  Issue: 5
Agency Decision Take no action [Transmittal Sheet]    
Response Date 12/11/2020
Decision Publication Date Published on: 1/4/2021     Volume: 37  Issue: 10
Agency Decision Summary

Dissemination of ignition interlock data warrants a more controlled approach than is requested by the petitioner.  Ignition interlock datalogs contain confidential information to include photographs of passengers other than the driver, such as children.  Also, many clients do not want records of violations mailed since they may be misrouted or opened by other residents.

VASAP will continue to make full datalogs available to clients upon their request for the purpose of rebutting alleged ignition interlock violations.  To address the petitioner's concerns in the future, noncompliance reports containing summary information of alleged ignition interlock violations will also include a statement advising the accused of their entitlement to a more comprehensive datalog report if they request one.   


Contact Information
Name / Title: Richard L. Foy  / Field Services Specialist
Address: 1111 East Main Street
Suite 801
Richmond, 23219
Email Address: rfoy@vasap.virginia.gov
Telephone: (804)786-5895    FAX: (804)786-6286    TDD: ()-