Testing After a Crash with Injuries
HRS 291E-21 — a blood or urine sample, and declining a breath test there is not a refusal
After a collision resulting in injury or death, an officer with probable cause to believe a person involved committed an offense such as operating under the influence requests that a sample of blood or urine be recovered from that person.
Who handles this in Hawaii: Hawaii State Bar Association, Lawyer Referral and Information Service; and legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Hawaii directory.
- Where the person is not injured or refuses treatment, the officer may offer a breath test instead.
- Declining that breath test is not treated as a refusal, and does not excuse the person from giving blood or urine.
- The sample is recovered by the hospital treating the person, or by a person authorized to draw it, unless doing so poses an imminent threat to the health of the medical staff or others.
A health care provider treating someone from a collision who learns from a test in the course of treatment that the person's blood alcohol meets the level that defines the offense, or that a drug that can impair driving is present, and reasonably believes the person was a driver, notifies the police.
Sources for this section (1)
- HRS 291E-21 — Applicable scope of part; mandatory testing in the event of a collision resulting in injury or death
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Hawaii attorney.