Implied consent laws require drivers to submit to sobriety tests, such as breath, blood, or urine tests, by the very act of simply driving a vehicle within a state. Most United States States have some type of implied consent law. The initial penalty for refusing to submit to such tests is license suspension. Of course, refusal does not prevent the criminal charge of driving under the influence.

People need to be careful about assuming that Florida law is the law everywhere. Florida certainly has its own approach to the georgia implied consent law. Implied consent laws require a driver to submit to a sobriety test. If he or she refuses, sufficient evidence of impairment can be created from the refusal. There are factual issues as well as factual defenses to refusal, and a skilled criminal defense lawyer should be consulted. The penalties for refusal are set forth in Florida Statute Section 322.2615.

Georgia code section 40-5-67.1 provides:

• (a) Any person who operates a motor vehicle in this state shall be deemed to have given consent to a chemical analysis for the purpose of determining the alcoholic or chemical content of his or her blood, breath, or urine, provided that such analysis is performed as provided in Code Section 40-5-67.1.
• (b) If such person refuses to submit to such test, none shall be given, if such person is employed in the public service and charged with or suspected of the maintenance, operation, or custody of a machine which is being used or is capable of being used in furtherance of the operation of an expressway authority or local public transportation system, the expressway authority employing such person, or the local public transportation system unless such action occurs at a location outside of the locality or local transportation district which employs the person.
• (c) Such test shall be performed upon a refusal to submit as soon as possible after the arrest of such person and within three hours after the arrest. The term ‘as soon as possible’ means within three hours after the arrest but does not require a law enforcement officer to wait for a blood test to be completed, provided that the test result is available to the law enforcement officer when presented at trial.
• (d) If such person refuses to submit to a chemical analysis for the purpose of determining the alcoholic or chemical content of his or her blood, breath, or urine, none shall be given, except in a case where such person is a commercial motor vehicle driver, in which case such analysis shall not be given without a warrant.

The Georgia Implied Consent Law and other out of state laws can impact Florida litigation. This is because, in many instances, the law of the state where the accident occurred will apply, and not Florida law.

Some people view implied consent laws as unconstitutional because they find it unreasonably to suspend the drivers’ license without a finding of guilt. That being said, the above statute has been upheld in some recent appellate cases. As always, the appellate court will decide the issue, and it will be important to have a lawyer that understands the law and is familiar with appellate procedure before taking an appeal. For example, in Smith v. Florida Dep’t of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, 27 So. 3d 760, 762 (Fla. 5th DCA 2010) the fifth district stated, “If an arresting officer has reasonable and articulable suspicion that a motorist is driving under the influence while driving commercial motor vehicle and is likely to continue to operate the vehicle in a dangerous way until he is stopped, there is no constitutional impediment to the prompt search of the motorist’s breath (or blood) by a breath-alcohol technician to determine whether the driver is intoxicated, provided a safety inspection can be done on the driver while he is in the custody of law enforcement personnel.”

For more information on implied consent laws, you can visit the Wikipedia page.