Understanding No Refusal Weekends

Some states, have laws that take away an individual’s rights to refuse a sobriety test on certain weekends. The aptly named no refusal weekends are meant to crack down on drunk driving by forcing all those suspected of drunk driving to take sobriety tests.

Unlike other weekends, no refusal weekends typically do not make use of breathalyzers and field sobriety tests. Rather, they typically make use of blood tests, which require police officers to draw blood from the suspect, which is then tested to determine an individual’s blood alcohol content.

Individuals who will not consent to these tests will be subjected to a forced test. This means that the police officer will hold the individual on suspicion of drunk driving, receive a warrant to draw blood from the individual, and then administer the test.

Police officers are given the right to draw the blood by any means necessary. This means that police officers may actually use force to get a blood sample. For instance, a police officer may have the right to strike an individual to incapacitate him or her, hold the individual down, and take his or her blood.

Even though the blood test is supposed to be more accurate than a breathalyzer test, these tests are not always 100% accurate. This means that a blood test may come back as inconclusive, or it may wrongly indicate that an individual is drunk. This is important, because it means that an individual may be able to prove his or her innocence regardless of what a blood test says.

When an individual is charged with DUI, regardless of whether it is during a no refusal weekend or another time, he or she should seek experienced legal defense to help fight the charges.