How Should You Refuse to Perform the Field Sobriety Tests? Will That Be Perceived as an Admission of Guilt?

Interviewer: What are good ways for someone to express to an officer that they are going to refuse to take that test?

Michael Kramer: Obviously, a prosecutor is going to argue that if you were not guilty why didn’t you take the test? There are many reasons to explain why a motorist did not take the tests. I would rather at trial be faced with the explanation as to why you didn’t take the test than trying to counter evidence that you took the tests and failed.

Basically you just have to express respectfully your desire not to take the tests if he asks you to submit to them. “Officer I don’t have to take them, I don’t want to take them, do what you’ve got to do.”

Commercial Drivers’ License Holders

Interviewer: What about with individuals with commercial driver’s licenses? Do all the same rules apply?

Michael Kramer: The same rules apply to commercial drivers.

Interviewer: What about the penalties?

Michael Kramer: CDL holders are subject to much harsher penalties. Regarding the field sobriety tests and evidence that could be presented against you at a trial and evidence that can lead to your arrest, the rules are the same no matter what license you have.

Interviewer: Are truck drivers they going to be asked to do a field sobriety test as well? The police are going to ask them to exit the vehicle?

Michael Kramer: Sure, if there’s some reason to believe they’re driving under the influence, yes.

A DWI Conviction for a CDL Holder Will Result in a Loss of the Commercial Driver’s License

Interviewer: For someone with a CDL, how have you seen that impact their lives?

Michael Kramer: They will lose their CDL. They may be able to drive with a regular license, if they qualify for a conditional license. With the CDL there’s no such provision. You can’t drive under your CDL and therefore you can’t earn a living.