To Blow or Not to Blow in Florida?

Published on April 12, 2016

Orlando DUI attorney David Hill discusses the advantages/disadvantages of blowing/not blowing into a breathalyzer when stopped by police in Florida. Free initial consultation.

Should you blow or not blow if you are stopped in a DUI case in Orlando or anywhere in Florida?

Unfortunately, the way that the current laws are set up there's no real right answer. Because if you blow into the machine and you blow over a .08 that's going to be evidence that the state is going to be able to use against you in your criminal DUI case. So then you might think, “oh well then obviously the answer is I don't below! So I don't give them that evidence, I don't give them that information”.

However, the way the statutes are structured the administrative consequence to your license can be worse. This means that they can suspend your license for a longer period of time if you refuse to blow. Also, if you've refused before, meaning if you've been pulled over for DUI before and you refused in that scenario, and then you refused again that's actually a separate criminal charge that they can hit you with. So those are some consequences to refusing. The good part is evidence they can't use against you. The bad part is there are some enhancements to your license suspension on the administrative side.

Right now, and this can change because these laws are always changing so it always advise you to consult with a criminal defense lawyer if something happens because the law may have changed, but right now if you are eligible you might be able to get a hardship license even if you refused, if it's the first time that you've done that. So right now I guess if I was really trust I would lean towards saying you're better off refusing. But there are consequences to refusing so keep that in mind.