Chapter 11.48
MISCELLANEOUS OFFENSES
Sections:
11.48.010 Driving while intoxicated.
11.48.015 Implied consent.
11.48.016 Implied consent—Preliminary breath test.
11.48.020 Prohibited tire noise.
11.48.010 Driving while intoxicated.
A. A person commits the crime of driving while intoxicated if the person operates or drives a motor vehicle or operates a watercraft or aircraft as defined by state statute within the city and borough:
1. When, as determined by a chemical test taken within four hours after the alleged offense was committed, there is 0.08 percent or more by weight of alcohol in the person’s blood or eighty milligrams or more of alcohol per one hundred milliliters of blood, or when there is 0.08 grams or more of alcohol per two hundred ten liters of the person’s breath; or
2. While under the influence of intoxicating liquor, or any controlled substance as defined in Alaska state law; or
3. While the person is under the combined influence of intoxicating liquor and a controlled substance.
B. A person shall be deemed to be intoxicated under subdivisions 2 and 3 of subsection A of this section if his physical or mental abilities are impaired so that he no longer has the ability to drive a vehicle with the caution expected of a sober person.
C. The fact that a person charged with a violation of this section is or has been entitled to use any such intoxicating liquors or narcotic or hypnotic drugs under the laws of the state or under a prescription from a physical shall not constitute a defense against any charge of violating this section.
D. The minimum and maximum penalties for violation of this section shall be those penalties prescribed in Chapter 28.35 of the Alaska Statutes for driving under the influence. The assembly shall set the daily charge for jail time served under this section, which amount shall be paid to the city and borough of Sitka.
E. If the act for which a person is convicted under this section contributes to a motor vehicle accident, the court shall order the person to pay the reasonable cost of any emergency services that responded to the accident if the convicted person or the convicted person’s insurer has not already paid the cost of the emergency services. If payment is required under this subsection, the payment shall be made directly to the emergency service and shall be equal to the actual cost of responding to the accident or the previous year’s annual average cost of responding to a motor vehicle accident, whichever is higher. At the assembly’s option, if it is decided that determining actual costs is cost-prohibitive, a standard charge may be enacted. In this subsection, “emergency service” includes a peace officer, fire department, ambulance service, emergency medical technician, or emergency trauma technician
(Ord. 01-1637 § 4, 2001; Ord. 95-1322 § 4, 1995; Ord. 94-1253 § 4, 1994; Ord. 93-1205 § 4(A), 1993; Ord. 86-727 § 4(A), 1986; Ord. 83-580 § 4, 1983; Ord. 80-445 § 4, 1980.)
11.48.015 Implied consent.
A. A person who operates or drives a motor vehicle or watercraft or aircraft shall be considered to have given consent to a chemical test or tests of the person’s breath for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of a person’s blood or breath if lawfully arrested for an offense arising out of acts alleged to have been committed while the person was operating or driving a motor vehicle or watercraft or aircraft while intoxicated. The test or tests shall be administered at the direction of a law enforcement officer who has reasonable grounds to believe that the person was operating or driving a motor vehicle or watercraft or aircraft in the boundaries of the municipality while intoxicated. Refusal to take a breath test is a misdemeanor.
B. The law enforcement officer shall inform the person under arrest that, if the person was arrested while driving or operating a motor vehicle for which a license is required, a refusal to submit to a chemical test of the person’s breath will result in the denial or revocation of the license or nonresident privilege to drive by the state; that the refusal may be used against the person in a civil or criminal action or proceeding arising out of an act alleged to have been committed by the person while driving or operating a motor vehicle or watercraft or aircraft while intoxicated and that the refusal is a misdemeanor.
C. The minimum and maximum penalties for violation of this section shall be those penalties prescribed in Chapter 28.35 of the Alaska Statutes for Implied Consent Breath Test Refusal. The assembly shall set the daily charge for jail time served under this section, which amount shall be paid to the city and borough of Sitka.
(Ord. 94-1253 § 4, 1994; Ord. 93-1205 §4(B), 1993; Ord. 86-727 § 4(B, C), 1986; Ord. 84-593 § 4(B), 1984; Ord. 83-586 § 4, 1984.)
11.48.016 Implied consent—Preliminary breath test.
A. A person who operates or drives a motor vehicle shall be considered to have given consent to a preliminary breath test for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of the person’s blood or breath. A law enforcement officer may administer a preliminary breath test at the scene of the incident if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that a person’s ability to operate a motor vehicle is impaired by the ingestion of alcoholic beverages and that the person:
1. Was driving a motor vehicle that is involved in an accident; or
2. Committed a moving traffic violation.
B. Before administering a preliminary breath test under subsection A of this section, the officer shall advise the person that refusal may be used against the person in a civil or criminal action arising out of the incident and that refusal is an infraction. If the person refuses to submit to the test, the test shall not be administered.
C. The result of the test under subsection A of this section may be used by the law enforcement officer to determine whether the driver should be arrested.
D. Refusal to submit to a preliminary breath test at the request of a law enforcement officer is an infraction with a maximum penalty of not more than three hundred dollars.
E. If a driver is arrested, the provisions of Section 11.48.015 apply. The preliminary breath test authorized in this section is in addition to any tests authorized under Section 11.48.015.
(Ord. 84-593 § 4(A), 1984.)
11.48.020 Prohibited tire noise.
It is unlawful for the driver of any motor vehicle on any public street or other property open to public travel to cause any squealing or screeching noise from the tires thereof as a result of unnecessary rapid acceleration, whether or not the production of such noise was an intended result of such an acceleration. Noise resulting from emergency action to avoid imminent danger to a person or property is exempt from this prohibition. (Ord. 95-1329 § 4, 1995.)