{"id":1569,"date":"2023-01-04T07:00:23","date_gmt":"2023-01-04T07:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/?p=1569"},"modified":"2023-09-07T13:50:33","modified_gmt":"2023-09-07T13:50:33","slug":"can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2023\/01\/04\/can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana\/","title":{"rendered":"Can You Refuse a Breathalyzer Test in Indiana?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>What do you call it when a person has been drinking alcohol or <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2022\/04\/25\/marijuana-violence-crime-is-there-a-link\/\">using drugs<\/a> and gets behind the wheel of a car\u2014or <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2022\/05\/16\/what-not-to-do-if-youre-stopped-on-suspicion-of-dui\/\">any other type of vehicle<\/a>? Most folks refer to this as &#8220;DUI,&#8221; which stands for driving under the influence. In Indiana, that crime is officially termed &#8220;Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated,&#8221; but it&#8217;s generally known as &#8220;OWI&#8221; or &#8220;DUI.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>No matter what acronym you use, getting pulled over by the cops on suspicion of intoxication is a serious matter. Is there anything you can do on the scene to avoid being <a href=\"https:\/\/iga.in.gov\/static-documents\/7\/c\/5\/2\/7c529e3a\/TITLE9_AR30_ch5.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">charged with this crime<\/a>? Some people think refusing to take a breathalyzer will prevent their arrest or benefit them in court. Let&#8217;s take a closer look at the truth.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Field_Sobriety_Test_vs_Chemical_Tests\"><\/span><strong>Field Sobriety Test vs. Chemical Tests<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4><div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_65 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-grey ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<div class=\"ez-toc-title-container\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title \" >Table of Contents<\/p>\n<span class=\"ez-toc-title-toggle\"><a href=\"#\" class=\"ez-toc-pull-right ez-toc-btn ez-toc-btn-xs ez-toc-btn-default ez-toc-toggle\" aria-label=\"Toggle Table of Content\"><span class=\"ez-toc-js-icon-con\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #999;color:#999\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/div>\n<nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2023\/01\/04\/can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana\/#Field_Sobriety_Test_vs_Chemical_Tests\" title=\"Field Sobriety Test vs. Chemical Tests\">Field Sobriety Test vs. Chemical Tests<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2023\/01\/04\/can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana\/#Understanding_Implied_Consent_In_Indiana\" title=\"Understanding Implied Consent In Indiana\">Understanding Implied Consent In Indiana<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2023\/01\/04\/can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana\/#Refusing_a_Breathalyzer_In_Indiana_What_Happens\" title=\"Refusing a Breathalyzer In Indiana: What Happens\">Refusing a Breathalyzer In Indiana: What Happens<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-4'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2023\/01\/04\/can-you-refuse-a-breathalyzer-test-in-indiana\/#Instead_of_Refusing_a_BAC_Test\" title=\"Instead of Refusing a BAC Test\">Instead of Refusing a BAC Test<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n\n<p>When an officer asks you to submit to sobriety tests, it&#8217;s because they have probable cause to believe you are intoxicated: your driving was erratic, they can smell beer on your breath, or your speech is slurred. There are two kinds of tests they will give you.<\/p>\n<p>Field sobriety tests include asking you to walk a straight line heel to toe, recite the alphabet backwards, or submit to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/field-sobriety-test-67159\">horizontal gaze nystagmus test<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Chemical testing methods include portable breath tests (PBT) and certified breath, blood, or urine tests. The PBT\u2014that&#8217;s the &#8220;breathalyzer&#8221; you blow into right there on the street\u2014is not admissible in court, and refusing it has no legal repercussions.<\/p>\n<p>It is the certified tests, which are administered at the police station, that we&#8217;re talking about today. Your refusal of those can lead to grave consequences.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Understanding_Implied_Consent_In_Indiana\"><\/span><strong>Understanding Implied Consent In Indiana<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>When you apply for a driver&#8217;s license in the state of Indiana, you give what is known as &#8220;implied consent.&#8221; That means a police officer who suspects you of being under the influence has the legal right to request you take <a href=\"https:\/\/www.fmcsa.dot.gov\/regulations\/drug-alcohol-testing\/implementation-guidelines-alcohol-and-drug-regulations-chapter-7\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">a chemical test<\/a> to determine your blood alcohol content (BAC). You can think of it as the &#8220;terms and conditions&#8221; of your right to operate a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n<p>The basic <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2022\/05\/09\/dui-charges-in-indiana-with-a-bac-significantly-over-the-legal-limit\/\">legal BAC limit<\/a> in the state of Indiana is 0.08. Other, lower limits apply in certain circumstances: drivers under the legal drinking age, those with previous OWIs on their record, etc.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Refusing_a_Breathalyzer_In_Indiana_What_Happens\"><\/span><strong>Refusing a Breathalyzer In Indiana: What Happens<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>If you refuse to submit to chemical testing, your license will automatically be suspended for at least 12 months. What&#8217;s more, <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/2022\/05\/23\/how-to-recover-emotionally-after-you-have-been-arrested\/\">you can still be arrested<\/a> for, charged with, and convicted of an OWI without a BAC chemical test results.<\/p>\n<p>In fact, the arresting officer and the court may interpret your refusal to take a breathalyzer test as evidence that you are intoxicated. Refusing this test will not help you; it&#8217;s actually more likely to hurt your case.<\/p>\n<h4><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Instead_of_Refusing_a_BAC_Test\"><\/span><strong>Instead of Refusing a BAC Test<\/strong><span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h4>\n<p>Refusing a breathalyzer test in Indiana won&#8217;t do you any good; on the contrary, it will result in automatic license suspension, and it&#8217;s apt to make you look even worse in the eyes of the court. Your best bet if you have been arrested on suspicion of OWI is to contact <a href=\"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/contact-us\/\">Razumich &amp; Associates<\/a> to discuss your case. We have extensive experience defending people accused of DUI and OWL, and we can help you too. Call us at (317) 449-8661.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What do you call it when a person has been drinking alcohol or using drugs and gets behind the wheel of a car\u2014or any other type of vehicle? Most folks refer to this as &#8220;DUI,&#8221; which stands for driving under the influence. In Indiana, that crime is officially termed &#8220;Operating a Vehicle While Intoxicated,&#8221; but [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1677,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1569"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3326,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1569\/revisions\/3326"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1677"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawyersreadytofight.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}