§ 70.18 STANDARD OF IMPAIRMENT; TESTING METHODS.
   (A)   In any trial of any civil action or proceeding with respect to the enforcement hereof alleging that any person is liable hereunder because such person was the cause of or was a substantial causative factor of an accident requiring emergency medical, fire or police responses while such person was driving or in actual physical control of a vehicle while under the influence of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances, or a combination of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances, to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired, or to the extent that he or she was deprived of full possession of his or her normal faculties the results of any test administered in accordance with F.S. § 316.1932 or 316.1933 or 316.1934, shall be admissible into evidence when otherwise admissible, and the amount of alcohol or controlled substance in the person's blood at the time alleged, as shown by chemical analysis of the person's blood or breath or urine, shall give rise to the following presumptions:
      (1)   If there was, at the time, 0.05% or less by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, and if there was no evidence of a controlled substance in such person's blood, it shall be presumed that the person was not under the influence of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances or any combination thereof, to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired.
      (2)   If there was, at the time, in excess of 0.05% but less than 0.10% by weight or alcohol in the person's blood such facts shall not give rise to any presumption that the person was or was not under the influence of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances or a combination thereof, to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired, but such fact may be considered with other competent evidence in determining whether the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances or any combination thereof to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired.
      (3)   If there was, at the time, 0.10% or more by weight of alcohol in the person's blood, even if there was no evidence of a controlled substance in such person's blood, that fact shall be prima facie evidence that the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired.
      (4)   If there was, at the time, in excess of 0.05% by weight of alcohol in the person's blood and if there was evidence of a controlled substance in the person's blood, those facts shall be prima facie evidence that the person was under the influence of a combination of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances, to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired.
   (B)   The percent by either of alcohol in the blood shall be based upon grams of alcohol per 100 milliliters of blood.
   (C)   The foregoing provisions of this section shall not be construed as limiting the introduction of other competent evidence bearing upon the question of whether the person was under the influence of alcoholic beverages or controlled substances, or a combination of alcoholic beverages and controlled substances, to the extent that his or her normal faculties were impaired or to the extent that he or she was deprived of full possession of his or her normal faculties, or that such impairment was the proximate cause or substantially causative of the accident giving rise to the need for emergency medical, police or fire services.
   (D)   A chemical analysis of a person's blood to determine alcoholic content or a chemical analysis of a person's breath, or a chemical analysis of a person's urine, in order to be considered valid under the provisions of this section, must have been performed substantially in accordance with the method approved by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of the State of Florida and by an individual possessing a valid permit issued by the Department for this purpose. Any insubstantial differences between approved techniques and actual testing procedures in any individual case shall not render the test or test results invalid. Any technique or method approved by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of the State of Florida with respect to such analysis shall be deemed acceptable. Any person who shall be deemed qualified and competent to conduct such analysis by the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services of the state of Florida, as indicated by the possession of a valid permit therefor shall be deemed competent to conduct such analysis.
(Ord. 890, passed 5-3-89)