Did you Refuse to take the Blood or Breath Test?

If you are pulled over for DUI in Bucks County, or found behind the wheel operating a motor vehicle on a Pennsylvania road, the police officer will evaluate and observe you for signs of alcohol or drug use.

If the police officer believes that you are under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or some other kind of intoxicating substance, he or she will ask you to submit to a DUI chemical test in the form of a blood test at a local hospital, a breath test at the local police station, or a urine test. It is the police officer’s discretion as to what type of DUI chemical test that you will be asked to take.

Pennsylvania has what is called an implied consent law. This means that when you obtained your driver’s license and every time you get behind the wheel of a vehicle on a PA road, you agree to take the DUI chemical test or your license will be automatically revoked by PennDot for at least one year in addition to any DUI related suspension.

Before you take the DUI chemical test, a Pennsylvania police officer is required to read to you a statement commonly known as the O’Connell warnings, which informs you that if you refuse to take the DUI chemical test that your driver’s license will be automatically suspended. The police officer then has to give the DUI suspect a “meaningful opportunity” to comply with the PA implied consent law.

In order to support a refusal charge, PennDot must prove:

1. That the driver was arrested for DUI.
2. By a police officer who had reasonable grounds to believe that the driver was operating the vehicle in violation of the PA DUI law.
3. That the driver was requested to submit the DUI chemical test.
4. That the police officer complied with the implied consent law.

If you or your Bucks County DUI lawyer does not file an appeal in the Bucks County Common Pleas Court (a civil matter), your right to appeal the suspension will be lost.

If you receive a Driver’s License Suspension Notice Letter from PennDot it is extremely important that you immediately contact an experienced Bucks County DUI lawyer because you only have a 30-day appeal period.