Post Accident Drug Testing Guidance

Title 49 CFR Part 382.303 and your company's written Substance Abuse Policy require employees to undergo post-accident drug and alcohol testing, as part of D.O.T. compliance, within 2 hours following any of these situations involving a CMV:

- Any fatality, or

- Any injury treated away from the incident scene, or

- Any vehicle had to be towed away from the incident scene &

- A traffic citation was issued to the offending driver*

*In many states, the investigating officer may issue a moving violation citation to the offending driver at the scene of the accident. However, California is not one of those states (unless the driver was arrested on suspicion of DUI drugs or alcohol).

Investigating officers within California rarely issue a moving violation citation at the scene of a traffic accident. Citations, if issued, are typically mailed days, weeks, or even months later, upon the completion of the traffic accident investigation/report.

Therefore, it is highly recommended that employers always presume a traffic citation has/will be issued and promptly conduct immediate drug and alcohol testing of their employee without delay. This falls under the post-accident guidance to ensure compliance.

Should a traffic citation not be issued within a reasonable amount of time (90 days), the company should downgrade this test to a Non-DOT testing event and remove the testing from its MIS report.

In either event, testing MUST be completed without delay, within the allowed two-hour timeframe. Breath alcohol testing must be completed no later than 8 hours following the incident, and drug testing must be completed no later than 32 hours.

Employees/drivers may not dispute the need for testing until after the testing has been completed!