If you’re out driving, you might pass a police checkpoint. If you’re in an area with a lot of bars, this makes sense.

The police might feel they have a good chance of catching someone who’s over the legal limit if they stop drivers in an area with many pubs or restaurants that serve alcohol.

In such a scenario, you should have no issue talking to the police if you didn’t drink anything or you’re not over the legal limit. However, if you consumed alcohol before you drove, then maybe you’re panicking at such a moment.

A breathalyzer test’s results can cause you to lose your license, and that’s probably the last thing you want. It might lead you to wonder whether you can legally refuse to take a breathalyzer test as a driver. In this article, we’ll discuss this concept.

What Does the Term “Breathalyzer” Mean?

The term “breathalyzer” refers to a field sobriety test that the cops give you. Instead of walking a straight line or touching your finger to your nose, you have to blow into an instrument that can detect how much alcohol you consumed before you drove, if any.

In almost all cases, if you take a breathalyzer test and fail it, the police can arrest you on the spot. They can impound your vehicle, and they may take your license away as well.

Because of this, it’s clear that the results of a breathalyzer matter a great deal to you as a motorist. You might have to spend a little time in jail if you fail one.

You may have to attend AA meetings or do community service. If you have prior drunk driving offenses, that will likely compound the problem.

Implied Consent Laws

Technically, you can refuse a breathalyzer test, at least in most states. Each state has its own laws on the books governing this kind of thing.

However, if you refuse a breathalyzer test, you will face some immediate, severe penalties. The police can usually take away your license on the spot if you won’t take the test.

They can typically arrest you as well. In that sense, taking a breathalyzer and failing it and refusing to take one have virtually identical consequences.

As a citizen, you must abide by something called implied consent laws. These almost always come into play in situations where you might refuse to take a breathalyzer test.

Implied consent, in this case, means that if you’re driving a vehicle, you already essentially gave consent to take a breathalyzer if the police pull you over and suspect you consumed alcohol.

If you didn’t want to give implied consent, you never should have got behind the wheel in the first place. That might sound a little unfair, but that’s how the system works, at least regarding this particular issue.

Can You Beat the Charges if You Refuse a Breathalyzer?

Let’s say for a moment that you’re driving, and the police pull you over. They want you to take a breathalyzer test, but you refuse.

They can take away your license at that moment, arrest you, and impound your vehicle. You might spend a little time in jail until a friend or family member bails you out.

In the aftermath, you will probably have to appear in front of a judge. The legal system can attempt to charge you with a DUI, and, because of implied consent and your refusal to take the breathalyzer, they can probably convict you.

You can always hire a lawyer and plead not guilty to the charges. However, because of implied consent, it’s almost impossible that you will get the case thrown out.

If you have any chance, then it’s probably going to be due to some pretty unusual circumstances.

For instance, maybe you might claim that the cops have a vendetta against you because you previously sued the police department.

You and your lawyer may argue that the police targeted you and tried to persecute you because of a previous lawsuit that you won.

Even that probably falls into the category of a pretty flimsy argument, though. That’s because, if you didn’t ingest alcohol before driving, the judge might still feel that you would have taken the breathalyzer test to prove your sobriety.

Do Breathalyzers Ever Fail?

You might also try to claim that you didn’t want to take the breathalyzer test because they sometimes fail. That’s probably not going to get you anywhere with a judge either, though.

The judge will likely argue that they’re accurate more times than not, and the facts seem to back that up. Still, that doesn’t mean that breathalyzers have a 100% accuracy rate.

Sometimes they do fail or malfunction, though it’s hard to put a number on exactly how often that happens. Recent food consumption by the person taking one might impact the results. Environmental conditions can play a part in their accuracy as well.

Errors by the individual giving you the test can produce an incorrect number. Improper calibration might also cause an error.

In short, though breathalyzers don’t have a completely perfect track record, the legal system doesn’t much like to admit that they’re not fully reliable.

Consult an Attorney if You Refused To Take a Breathalyzer Test

If you refused to take a breathalyzer, and you want to fight a DUI charge, you will probably want to hire a good defense lawyer.

Together, the two of you might try to work out a strategy that you think will either get you off the hook or that might get you a reduced sentence.

You need to remember something in these situations, though. If you refuse a breathalyzer, and you try to fight a DUI charge as well, that’s probably going to irritate the prosecution.

They never like it when you attempt to take a case to trial. It means that, if you can’t convince the judge of your innocence, they’re probably going to give you the maximum sentence possible.