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Overview of the Breath Test
This test is commonly referred to as the ‘Breathalyzer’ test after one of the common makes of hand-held devices. Today, the Intoxilyzer® 5000 is most likely the brand that would be in use.
You can politely decline to take the test and you cannot be arrested for refusing. However, the officer will, of course, assume that your refusal constitutes guilt and may arrest you for ‘probable cause.’ Once under arrest, you are likely to be taken to a detention center or health facility for a blood or urine test. The officer has probable cause to arrest you if you did not perform standardized field sobriety tests to his or her satisfaction. These tests, also, are not mandatory. Again, however, the officer is likely to find another reason for placing you under arrest: reckless driving, driving without a license (if you cannot produce one), or one of many other reasons.
Although challenged by DUI defense attorneys as legitimate evidence in a trial, breath testing is popular with law enforcement because it gives fairly accurate results if properly administered and it is an inexpensive form of determining blood-alcohol content (BAC). |
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