A DUI conviction can have long-term, significant impacts on your life. It may affect your employment, driving eligibility, and others’ perception of you. It can also dramatically increase your auto insurance rates. In Illinois, the crime cannot be expunged from your criminal record, and it will also stay on your driving history permanently. These facts are true even for a first conviction.
One of the ways a law enforcement officer obtains supporting evidence is to ask you to submit to various testing methods, which are supposed to provide accurate readings of your blood alcohol concentration. Breath, urine, and blood tests are common methods. Do you have to submit to these requests in Illinois? What happens if you do not? An experienced DUI defense lawyer from McNamara Phelan McSteen, LLC can explain.
What Is Implied Consent in Illinois Drunk Driving Charges?
Illinois follows the rule of implied consent to justify asking drivers suspected of intoxication to undergo field sobriety testing. This means that if you drive a motor vehicle in the state and a law enforcement officer reasonably suspects that you are intoxicated, you have already agreed that you consent to take DUI chemical tests, both for alcohol and drugs.