Commonwealth, Department of Transportation, Bureau of Traffic Safety v. Dourte

Opinion by

Judge Rogers,

This case has to do with chemical tests of the breath or blood of operators of motor vehicles for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of their blood.

The appellee, Roger P. Dourte, was involved in a single vehicle accident in Lancaster County. A police officer asked him at the scene whether he would submit to a test of his breath and Dourte agreed. No breath test was ever taken because Dourte, who was injured about the face, was taken to the hospital. The police officer went to the hospital an hour or so later where he told Dourte that he was under arrest…