If you are pulled over for a DUI in Utah the police in questioning you and watching your driving pattern must have reasonable suspicion in order to request a Preliminary Breath Test (PBT) to determine if you have been drinking. The DUI laws in Utah do not require you or force you to submit to a PBT test. Further, the DUI laws in Utah do not state that if a police officer does have a reasonable suspicion of a DUI being committed that the police officer can ask for a PBT test. Also, Utah DUI legislative laws do not have anything that govern the use of a PBT test. However, the police officer will try to make it seem like a PBT test is required if you have been pulled over on a suspicion of a DUI.
There are administrative rules in Utah that govern the use of a PBT test. What most police officers that perform arrests for Drunk Driving in Utah will tell you that a PBT test is only used to see if you have been drinking before you started driving or to show that you had alcohol in your system while driving. This is interesting because if that was true then it would not give a specific reading of what it believes your breath alcohol level is. A PBT test can read a positive test without you drinking or consuming alcohol and therefore give a false reading.
It is important that if a PBT test has been used when a police officer has arrested you for a DUI in Utah that you consult with a DUI lawyer in Utah who understands the testing done and how to use the results in your favor in your DUI case. At Arnold, Wadsworth & Coggins Attorneys, we offer a free consultation in order to go over your DUI case to see how we can help. Take advantage of our free consultation and give us a call today at (801) 475-0123.
