Walk It Through: The Breath Test After the Party
A roadside breath test, an arrest, the request for the real test, and the notice that is also a license for a week.
After a party, a driver is stopped and asked to blow into a handheld device at the roadside.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
A DUI arrest of an adult driving a car, with a breath test. A blood draw, a commercial license, a boat or plane, and the sentencing that follows a conviction are left out.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- Class A misdemeanorThe more serious misdemeanor class, with up to one year in jail and a fine up to $25,000.
- DUIDriving, or operating an aircraft or watercraft, while under the influence of alcohol, an inhalant or a controlled substance, or with 0.08 percent or more alcohol on a test within four hours.
- Implied consentA person who drives in Alaska is considered to have consented to a chemical breath test after a lawful DUI arrest, and to a preliminary breath test at the scene.
- RefusalRefusing the chemical test after a DUI arrest is a class A misdemeanor of its own, and its sentence runs after any other.
- Administrative revocationThe license revocation that follows a breath test at the limit or a refusal, which takes effect seven days after the notice unless review is asked for in writing within those seven days.