It’s very common for a police officer to ask a driver to take a breath test if they get pulled over on suspicion of impaired driving. The officer already needs to have a reason to believe that the driver is impaired. Maybe they ran a stop sign or drifted out of their lane. Perhaps the officer is simply talking to the driver and notices that they smell of alcohol and have bloodshot eyes.
But even if the officer requests that the driver take the breath test, they cannot force them to do so. They can’t physically make them take the test, and it can’t be done against their will. All the officer can do is ask them to take it, and then the driver does have the option to refuse that test.
Then what happens?
On one hand, it is important for drivers to understand that they can refuse a breath test. There may be situations in which they want to do so.
But at the same time, they do need to understand that they are bound by implied consent laws. This is true of anyone who has a state-issued driver’s license. Consent to those tests has already been given at the time the license was issued.
As a result, refusal to take the test is going to trigger certain ramifications. Most often, the driver sees a license suspension. Even if they are never brought to trial and never convicted on drunk driving charges, they still have to serve that license suspension because they refused to take the test when asked.
Your defense options
Have you been pulled over for impaired driving or are you facing criminal charges? If so, be sure you understand all the defense options at your disposal.
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