Refusing a Breath Test in a DUI

Colorado drivers refusing a breath test can face severe consequences unless adequately prepared to beat these legal charges. Driving is essential to life’s daily activities, and when the ability is taken away, it can result in challenging hardships. Knowing your rights when stopped and asked to take a breath test in Colorado will better prepare you to make the right choice and understand the consequences of those decisions.

Colorado Test Requirements and DUI Laws

DUI laws assume drivers consent to a breath or blood test when they get behind the wheel. This law is known as Colorado’s express consent law and allows drivers to choose between two testing methods when stopped for suspected DUI.

Drivers are not legally required to submit to a breath test. However, when a driver refuses the chemical breath test, they must submit to a chemical blood test. Both tests have pros and cons, and breath test evidence has come under scrutiny for its unreliability, allowing judges to throw out the results of a breath test.

If a driver blows negative on the breath test, then this will likely result in the driver not being detained, providing another advantage. However, law enforcement still has the right to charge a driver with DUI based on other criteria, such as driving performance and other external factors.

Chemical Blood Testing

Refusing the breath test requires a driver to submit to a chemical blood test. Refusing a chemical blood test prevents proof of your blood alcohol levels registering over the legal limit. A knowledgeable DUI attorney can help fight the results of a blood test successfully.

Your life will be affected by a drunk driving conviction. But refusing a breath test and subsequent chemical blood test also has consequences. Let’s discuss what you may face.

Refusing a Colorado DUI Test

Refusal to submit to DUI chemical testing comes with immediate consequences. Sometimes, out of fear, drivers make a choice that seems best but later suffer the ramifications of those decisions. Consequences include:

• Colorado license suspension for one year. This suspension is automatic.
• Participation in a mandatory drug and alcohol treatment program.
• Persistent drunk driver designation, regardless of the number of offenses
• Refusal of chemical testing can be used as evidence against a driver if the case goes to court.
• Required SR-22 insurance regardless of being found not guilty
• Following a reinstated driving privilege, an ignition interlock device must be in place

Both convictions of DUI and failing to submit to DUI testing are costly. Having a DUI case dismissed requires working with a Colorado DUI attorney with a successful record in Colorado DUI litigation.

Challenging a DUI Test Refusal in Colorado

Just because you refused a breath test and now face severe consequences does not mean a driver is defenseless. Each case is unique, and the circumstances that apply specifically to a driver’s case can be used as compelling evidence in a driver’s favor. A driver is innocent under the law until proven guilty.

Greeley, Colorado DUI Breath Test Refusal Defense

Working with a Colorado DUI defense team possessing a unique perspective on DUI laws allows drivers access to the experience required to navigate DUI charges successfully and ensure the best outcome. DUI convictions can upend life, and McAdams Law Office relentlessly strives to minimize damaging consequences in the lives of Coloradans. A free consultation allows us to begin building your defense today.