Refusing the Breath Test

You are standing in line at the department of motor vehicles waiting to get your driver’s license. They ask for a seemingly endless amount of forms and identification. You hurry and sign your name on the papers they hand you. When you receive your driver’s license you have just agreed to Arizona’s Implied Consent Law.

Implied Consent Law

Under Arizona’s Implied Consent Law, any driver’s license holder in the state is consenting to submit to a chemical test when police stop a person for drinking and driving. Driving is considered a privilege not a right and therefore the state has no problem taking away a person’s driver’s license if he or she refuses to take a blood, breath or urine test when properly asked by police.

The Catch 22

If a driver has not been drinking and driving and police ask you to take a breath test and you say no, you will automatically be arrested for DUI. However, if you have been drinking and driving and decide to take the breath test and you fail by going over the legal limit of .08%, you will also be arrested for DUI. To make it a bit more enticing, police are to remind you of Arizona’s Implied Consent Law and that refusing to take a chemical test will result in serious penalties. In a way, they are talking you into taking a chemical test. However, legally they can not hold you down and physically force you to submit a sample.


During the mayhem of a DUI arrest, the last thing you’re probably thinking about is whether or not the breath test is actually working. However, there have been cases where a breath test machine was either not working properly or the police officer was not trained to use the machine. Therefore, how can anyone be sure your test results were accurate? Breath test machines are also sensitive to cough syrup and mints that may contain alcohol.

If this has happened to you, an experienced DUI defense attorney will know and will request to have your blood alcohol content test results inadmissible in court. Remember, there are consequences for refusing the Arizona breath test.