If the officer suspects the driver is driving drunk, driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while ability impaired (DWAI, DWI) the officer will ask the person suspected of driving drunk, DUI , DWAIto step out of the vehicle. The officer is constantly looking for any signs the driver is driving drunk. The officer will watch how the driver exits the vehicle. If the driver is holding on to the vehicle, unsteady, stumbles, sways or anything similar, the cop will consider this a sign that the driver has been driving drunk.
Once out of the vehicle, the officer will ask the suspected drunk driver if he/she would be willing to perform voluntary roadside tests. Some cops will not inform the suspected drunk driver that these roadside tests are voluntary, but in the state of Colorado they are deemed voluntary. Unfortunately, DUI attorneys and DUI lawyers are not invited to the scene. If a DUI attorney or DUI lawyer could be called to the scene, the advice would be to politely decline the roadside tests regardless if the person is driving drunk, DUI, DWAI or completely sober. If the person that is suspected of drunk driving requests an attorney or lawyer, the officer will inform the suspected drunk driver that attorneys and lawyers are not brought to the DUI stop.
The roadside tests for a person suspected of drunk driving are divided attention tests and are not required by Colorado law. In Colorado, a driver may refuse to perform the tests. The DUI attorneys in this law firm have completed legal education classes on DUI, DWAI, drunk driving, driving under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs. As such, and as most DUI defense attorneys and DUI defense lawyers will agree, many people cannot satisfactory complete the roadside tests even if they have not been drinking and driving or are on drugs. Nonetheless, the results of the roadside tests will be used against the driving suspected of drunk driving in a criminal prosecution.
If the officer reasonably suspects the person stopped has been driving a motor vehicle while drunk, driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while impaired (DWAI) by alcohol, the officer may attempt to conduct a preliminary breath test (PBT). The driver may either refuse or agree to provide a sample of the driver’s breath. This portable breath test device is not scientifically reliable. However, the cops use it to help determine if the driver is driving drunk, DUI, or DWAI. Because this device is not reliable, the results cannot be used in a criminal court during prosecution for drunk driving, DUI, or DWAI. The purpose is to justify the DUI arrest, and justify having the driver accused of drunk driving to complete a blood test or breath test. However, if the driver suspect of driving drunk, DUI or DWAI is under twenty-one years of age, the officer may require a portable breath test (PBT). The officer may use the results of the PBT to determine whether probable cause exists that a person has been driving under the influence (DUI) or is driving while ability impaired (DWAI,) by alcohol. Neither the results of the test or a person’s refusal may be used against the driver in front of a jury.
A person who drives a motor vehicle on the streets and highways of Colorado has given give expressed consent for a police officer to take a blood, breath, or urine sample when requested and directed by an officer who has probable cause to believe the person is driving drunk, driving under the influence, DUI, DWAI by alcohol or drugs or both alcohol and drugs.
If the driver is suspected of drunk driving, DUI for alcohol, DWAIfor alcohol, the driver has the choice between a blood or breath test. In Colorado, if the officer has probable cause to believe the driver is DUI for drugs (DUID), DWAI for drugs, under the influence of or impaired by one or more drugs, controlled substances or combination of alcohol, drugs and/or controlled substances the officer may require a test of such person’s blood or urine, the officer’s choice.
The driver suspected of DUI or DWAI must cooperate with the officer’s request for a breath or blood sample so that the sample may be obtained within two hours of the person’s suspected drunk driving unless extraordinary circumstances are met. Any failure of the driver suspected of drunk driving to take and complete, and cooperate in the completing of, the breath or blood test shall be deemed a refusal to submit to testing.