Administrative License Suspension (ALS) for DWI If You Refuse the Breath Test

After an arrest for drunk driving, if you refuse the Intoxilyzer breath test at the police station, your driver’s license will likely be suspended by the New Hampshire Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV), usually for six months. This DMV-ordered suspension is called an Administrative License Suspension, or ALS for short. It is important to know your administrative hearing rights at the Department of Safety. We can help you navigate your options and potentially use the hearing as a negotiating tool or fight the license suspension hearing for you at the DMV.

Further, license suspensions resulting from court sentences after DWI convictions run consecutively to administrative suspensions if you refused the Intoxylizer test. In other words, the suspension period from your conviction won't start until after the administration license suspension period ends — meaning a longer time without your license.

Is there a penalty for refusing the field sobriety tests?

There is no DMV penalty for refusing the field sobriety tests. Also, you can’t fail any “test” you don’t take. Field sobriety tests are really exercises designed to assist the police officer in determining if there is probable cause to arrest the person he or she is investigating for DWI.

To learn more on field sobriety exercises, check out our DWI page. If you're facing and administrative license suspension by the DMV for a drunk driving arrest, contact Rock Law PLLC for a free consultation about how we can help.