Some of them even refuse to get out of the car.'' Recognizing this, the General Assembly required the courts to punish refusals with even lengthier drivers' license suspensions after a DUI conviction. Judges also must not grant a hardship license for travel to work and school and medical visits to those who refuse to take the test. That's what the law demands. It's not what judges always do. That includes Pike County, where 83 first-offense DUI suspects refused to take the test in 1999.
Judges also continue to issue hardship licenses to drunken drivers who refused to take the test.
Police noted the refusal on the arrest report. Judges don't obey the refusal law to the letter, Hayse confirmed. Unfortunately, courts that look the other way on refusals encourage drunken drivers to refuse again during future arrests, said state Rep. Kathy Stein, D-Lexington, who helped write the new DUI law. Plus, DUI suspects have good reason to clamp their lips if they worry their BAC might be 0.18 or more, which could lead to additional jail time, Stein said. A few counties convict and punish people for refusals.