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Implied Consent Overview
Blood-alcohol content (BAC) tests (blood, urine, and breath tests) and standardized field sobriety tests fall under ‘implied consent laws.’ When you received your driver’s license, your signature on forms provides that you will comply with certain requirements if asked by the police.
Implied consent laws include:
- Producing a driver’s license and proof of insurance when asked
- Consenting to blood, urine, or breath tests to determine your blood-alcohol content if requested.
- Performing field sobriety tests if requested.
Politely refusing to cooperate is your legal right, but refusal carries a likely penalty of a loss of the driver’s license for up to one year.
Many grassroots political groups are unhappy with the concept of implied consent laws. The feeling is that you should not have to sign away your rights for a driver’s license because it is almost mandatory that an adult hold a driver’s license in today’s society. The government holds the position that driving is a privilege, not a right, and that implied consent is necessary to keep the roads safe from intoxicated drivers.
While these laws are administered at the state level, the federal government holds the purse strings. Federal grants are often proffered to state governments with the restriction that they uphold driver’s license suspension under implied consent laws.
The term of loss of driving privileges is usually of shorter duration for a driver failing a chemical test than for refusing to consent to testing in the first instance.
Your DWI defense attorney will fight vigorously for your rights if you politely refuse to take standardized field sobriety tests or chemical blood-alcohol content tests.
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