Continued from Part 1.
The Texas DPS has been trying to cope with a Larger Number of Blood Samples needing Testing with a Staff that remains the Same Size
Budgetary constraints mean that the Texas DPS has not been able to keep up with the growing workload. Indeed, there’s been a growing backlog of blood samples to be analyzed in recent years. And our Texas accident injury attorneys emphasize that the DPS has added no new forensic lab analysts since 2009. But the Department has stated that it does plan to ask for budgetary allotments to hire more full-time forensic lab analysts for its staff.
The Texas DPS needs the new personnel. In the past three years, the average time for analyzing a blood sample from a DWI suspect has lengthened from an average of 30 days to an average of 60 days. Recently, the DPS has been juggling priorities and shuffling personnel to try and cope with the growing stock of samples for analysis and the resultant backlog. Our Texas accident injury attorneys realize that DWI suspects, their attorneys, and prosecutors all face delay in moving forward with their cases while samples languish waiting to be analyzed.
Texas Budgetary Priorities should be Clear: Your Safety should be a High Priority
The Texas accident injury attorneys at Denena Points, PC hope that those who make decisions on the Texas budget see the wisdom of granting the DPS request and focusing money and attention on a real priority in the state. The endemic drunken driving problem in Texas has proven resistant to efforts to diminish it. Taking away the ability of state authorities to enforce the law and develop successful cases for prosecution with reliable blood evidence would send the wrong message and send the problem skyrocketing to even more deadly levels.
Even now, around 1,000 people (about one third of all fatal Texas accidents) die each year in Texas from wrecks caused by drunken drivers. More than 10,000 others are injured annually from these DWI crashes. And about 4,000 of these injuries are classified as permanently disabling or catastrophic.