Under Florida's implied consent law, driving in Florida counts as agreement to a lawful breath test after a DUI arrest. Refusing costs a one year suspension the first time, and an 18 month suspension plus a separate misdemeanor charge the second time.
Consent the law assumes
Implied consent is an agreement the law presumes rather than one anyone signs. By driving on Florida roads, a driver is deemed to have consented to a lawful breath test after being arrested for DUI. The consent comes from the act of driving itself.
Two details in that rule carry weight. The test must be lawful, and it comes after a DUI arrest. Implied consent concerns the breath test after arrest; it does not address the roadside exercises that sometimes come before an arrest.
The license cost of saying no
A first refusal leads to a one year administrative suspension of the driver license. It is administrative because it comes from DHSMV on its own track, separate from the criminal court and from any sentence in the DUI case.
A second refusal raises the administrative suspension to 18 months. The gap between a first and a second refusal is one reason a person's history matters so much in these cases.
The criminal cost of a second refusal
A second refusal is not only a license issue. It is also charged as a first degree misdemeanor, a separate offense from the DUI itself. In Florida, a first degree misdemeanor is punishable by up to 1 year in jail and a $1,000 fine.
That means a single arrest can lead to two criminal charges and an administrative suspension at the same time, each moving through its own process.
The evidence cost: refusals can be used at trial
Some people assume that declining the breath test leaves the state with no evidence. That is not how it works. A refusal can be used as evidence at trial, and the state can still try to establish impairment of normal faculties through driving behavior, officer observations, field sobriety exercises and video.
What a refusal removes is a breath number, and how much that matters depends on the rest of the evidence. The defense can also examine whether a refusal actually occurred, whether the arrest was lawful, and whether the request for the test was made properly. DUI Lawyers Shield Firm can review refusal records and video in a free case review.
Keep reading
- DUI vs DWI in Florida: Which One Applies to Your Case
- The Florida DMV Formal Review Hearing: The 10 Day Rule and What Happens Next
- Your Florida DUI License Suspension Timeline, Step by Step
General information only, not legal advice. Every case depends on its own facts, and prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
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