Walk It Through: The Chemical Test and the Suspension

A breath test offered at the roadside, a hearing about the license, and a way to keep driving to work.

After a stop near closing time, the officer says there is probable cause of impaired driving and offers a breath test.

Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.

One arrest at a breath test and the license that follows it. A blood draw, a crash with an injury, a commercial license and the trial itself are left to the pages on testing and penalties.

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.

Operating while intoxicatedDriving a vehicle while intoxicated, a Class C misdemeanor, or in a manner that endangers a person, a Class A misdemeanor. Driving with an alcohol concentration of at least 0.08 is a separate offense that needs no proof of intoxication.
Implied consentThe rule that everyone who drives in Indiana consents, as a condition of driving, to the chemical tests of the implied consent chapter, and complies only by taking every test an officer offers.
Financial responsibilityInsurance, a bond or self insurance covering liability for a vehicle in at least the minimum amounts: $25,000 for one person's injury, $50,000 for two or more, and $25,000 for property.
Specialized driving privilegesA court order staying a suspension and letting a person drive on terms the court sets, granted on a verified petition filed in the case that led to the suspension.