Alcohol and drugs
A law enforcement officer suspects you of driving under the influence and asks you to take a breath, blood, or urine test. What happens if you refuse?
- DMV will suspend or revoke your driving privilege for one year. Correct answer
- Nothing; you have the right to refuse without penalty.
- You receive a warning, and the officer must let you go.
Why
By driving in California you have already consented to a breath, blood or urine test when an officer suspects DUI. Refusing is not a free choice: DMV suspends or revokes your driving privilege for one year, independently of whatever the court decides about the DUI itself. Even if you agreed to a preliminary breath screening, a blood or urine test for drugs can still be demanded of you. If you are arrested for DUI, the Administrative Per Se law requires DMV to suspend your license, the officer may take your license and give you a 30-day temporary one, and you have 10 days from the arrest to request a DMV hearing.
Where this comes from
California Driver's Handbook, June 2025 edition. The correct answer is DMV will suspend or revoke your driving privilege for one year.
The rule behind this one
California alcohol and drug rules for drivers goes through the whole topic, with the page of the California Driver's Handbook behind every rule.
More on alcohol and drugs
- How long does a DUI conviction stay on your California driver's record?
- You are 30 years old and not on DUI probation. You are driving your own car, which needs no commercial license and carries no passengers for hire. At what blood alcohol concentration (BAC) does it become illegal for you to drive?
- You are 40 years old and on DUI probation. At what blood alcohol concentration (BAC) does it become illegal for you to drive?
- A friend is driving and you are in the passenger seat of their car. May you drink a beer?