If you're pulled over by a Cook County police officer after consuming alcohol or drugs, what you do can significantly affect the potential outcome of your intoxicated driving case. During this stressful time, remain calm and understand your power to “just say no.” Although you're required to provide your driver's license, vehicle registration, and proof of insurance coverage during a traffic stop, Illinois law doesn't require that you answer questions about your alcohol consumption, activities, or related matters. Refusing to cooperate with an armed law enforcement officer with the power to arrest you is a daunting prospect, but you may refuse to answer questions and decline to take part in roadside breath tests or field sobriety tests.
Typically, the questioned police officers ask and the preliminary screening methods aim to create a probable cause for a drunk driving arrest, so you must exercise your power to say no unless you're absolutely certain you aren't impaired and have consumed no alcohol or drug. While you won't prevent a drunk driving arrest by refusing to submit to field sobriety tests or a preliminary breath test, the police officer will have less evidence to support probable cause for a drunk driving arrest, and the prosecution office will have less evidence at trial.
Further, you can't be punished for exercising your rights to refuse to consent to these preliminary screening tests or for refusing to answer questions concerning your drinking activities. However, the law enforcement officer and the prosecutor may still move forward with DUI charges based on their observations of your driving activity before the police stop or signs of impairment during the stop, such as slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, unsteady gait, lack of coordination, and/or the odor of alcohol on your breath. However, this type of evidence is less persuasive than failed field sobriety tests or admissions that you were drunk.