Refusing or Taking a Breath Test
Once you have been arrested for DUI, you will be read an “implied consent advisory.”
After the form is read to you, you should be asked to sign the form indicating whether
you refused to take the test or agreed to take it. You should consider the following
when deciding whether to refuse or take the test.
- Refusing the test generally will result in a longer suspension of your drivers license. The suspension periods are set out in
detail in the section of this site entitled "Suspension of your Driver's License."
- You can still be convicted even if you refuse the test. A test refusal means that
there is less evidence against you, but prosecutors will almost always go forward
with their case, using other evidence such as the results of field sobriety tests and
the observations of the officer.
- Under some circumstances, a refusal makes it less likely that you will be
convicted of DUI. It certainly does not guarantee a "not guilty" verdict.
- Taking and failing a test does not mean that you will definitely be convicted. There are many defenses to a DUI case that are still available.
In deciding whether to take a breath test or refuse one, you have to consider how
significant the length of a drivers license suspension is to you. The more important it is
to minimize the length of suspension, the more likely it is that you will want to take the
test. If you have one or more prior DUI convictions, the amount of jail time that you
will have to serve following a conviction increases significantly. You may want to
minimize the chances that you will be convicted and have to serve a long jail sentence,
even if this means that you will have a longer suspension of your drivers license.
Having represented hundreds of DUI clients, we can share with you the
following experience:
- Most clients who had never had a DUI conviction wish that they had taken the test.
- Clients with one prior DUI conviction split on whether they should have refused or taken the test.
- Many clients who have had 2 or more DUI convictions wish that they had refused the test.
* These are generalities, not legal advise. For additional information call the
DUI Defense Team.
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