You can refuse field sobriety tests in Michigan. The roadside physical coordination exercises an officer asks you to perform before any arrest — the eye test, the walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand — are voluntary. No Michigan statute penalizes you for declining, and your license will not be suspended for saying no. The Implied Consent Law under MCL 257.625c applies to chemical tests of breath, blood, or urine after a lawful arrest. It does not reach the balance and coordination tests done at the side of the road.
That legal right is clear. The practical picture is more complicated, because refusing a field sobriety test does not end the encounter and can shape what happens next.
What a Field Sobriety Test Actually Is
When people talk about field sobriety tests, they usually mean the three standardized exercises developed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Michigan officers are trained in these through the NHTSA program, and each test is designed to measure divided attention, the ability to handle more than one task at once.1National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Test SFST Resources
Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus
The officer holds a pen or fingertip about 12 to 15 inches from your face and moves it side to side while watching your eyes for involuntary jerking. There are three clues per eye: whether the eye tracks smoothly, whether jerking begins before a 45-degree angle, and whether jerking appears at maximum deviation. Michigan courts admit HGN evidence under People v. Berger, 217 Mich App 213 (1996), as reliable evidence of the presence of alcohol, provided a qualified officer administered it properly.
Walk-and-Turn
You take nine heel-to-toe steps along a line, turn in a specified way, and walk nine steps back. Officers watch for eight clues, including starting too soon, stepping off the line, using arms for balance, and taking the wrong number of steps.
One-Leg Stand
You raise one foot about six inches off the ground and count aloud for roughly 30 seconds. The four clues are swaying, using arms for balance, hopping, and putting the foot down.
Some officers also use non-standardized exercises: reciting the alphabet from a letter other than A, counting backward, finger-to-nose, or the Romberg balance test. These have not been validated the way the three NHTSA tests have been, and they carry less weight in court. All of them, standardized or not, are voluntary in Michigan.
What Happens If You Refuse
There is no statutory penalty. Your license is not suspended. No points go on your record. You are not charged with a crime for the refusal itself. That is the legal bottom line, and it is worth being clear about because so many drivers assume the opposite.
What refusing does not do is end the stop. An officer who already has reasonable suspicion of impairment still has it after you decline. The smell of alcohol, slurred speech, bloodshot eyes, fumbling with your license and registration, and the driving behavior that triggered the stop in the first place can all support an arrest without any field sobriety test results. A Michigan court in People v. Rizzo confirmed that the smell of alcohol alone gives an officer enough reasonable suspicion to require a driver to step out of the vehicle.
Prosecutors can also raise the refusal at trial and argue you declined because you knew you would fail. Officers often treat refusal as another piece of evidence pointing toward probable cause for arrest. So the tactical question — whether to take the tests or decline them — depends on the facts of your stop, and the answer is not the same for every driver. The legal question of whether you can decline is settled.
Where Refusal Does Carry Penalties
Three different things happen during a drunk driving investigation, and they are governed by three different sets of rules. Confusing them is the single most common mistake drivers make.
The Preliminary Breath Test
The PBT is the handheld breath device an officer uses at the roadside to estimate your blood alcohol concentration. It is not a physical coordination exercise, and it is not voluntary the same way. Under MCL 257.625a, an officer with reasonable cause to suspect alcohol-impaired driving can require you to take a PBT. Refusing it is a civil infraction for most drivers. For commercial drivers, PBT refusal is a misdemeanor punishable by up to 93 days in jail or a $100 fine.2Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.625a
PBT results can establish probable cause for arrest but have limited admissibility at trial. Under MCL 257.625a(2)(b), they come in to help determine whether the arrest was valid and in narrow rebuttal situations, but they generally cannot serve as the primary evidence of your BAC.3Michigan Courts. Preliminary Chemical Breath Analysis (PBT) – Chemical Tests of Blood, Urine, or Breath
The Post-Arrest Chemical Test
This is where the serious consequences for refusal live. Michigan’s Implied Consent Law means that by driving on Michigan roads, you have already agreed to submit to a chemical test of your breath, blood, or urine if you are lawfully arrested for impaired driving. This test happens after arrest, usually at the station or a hospital, on more precise equipment than the PBT.
Refusing the post-arrest chemical test triggers automatic license sanctions:
- First refusal: one-year license suspension and six points on your driving record.
- Subsequent refusal within seven years: two-year license suspension and six points.
You have 14 days after receiving notice of the suspension to request a hearing with the Secretary of State. The hearing must be scheduled within 45 days of your arrest and resolved within 77 days, barring witness unavailability or exceptional circumstances.4Michigan Legislature. Michigan Compiled Laws 257.625f
Miss the 14-day window and the suspension takes effect automatically. This is one of the tightest deadlines in Michigan driving law, and drivers who do not know about it often lose the chance to challenge the suspension at all.
So the structure is: field sobriety tests, voluntary with no statutory penalty. PBT, required with a civil infraction for refusal. Post-arrest chemical test, required with a one-year license suspension for refusal. The right to decline physical coordination tests does not extend to either breath test.
How to Decline During a Stop
If you choose not to perform field sobriety tests, say so clearly and politely. You are not required to explain yourself or justify the decision. Comply with every other lawful instruction. Produce your license, registration, and insurance when asked. Step out of the vehicle if the officer tells you to; refusing to exit is a separate problem and is not protected the way declining the tests is.
Do not argue, do not perform some of the tests but not others in a way that looks like you were trying and failing, and do not volunteer statements about what you have had to drink. Anything you say becomes part of the officer’s report and part of any prosecution that follows. Everything is documented, including the clues the officer saw, the weather, the lighting, your footwear, the surface you were standing on, and anything you said.
If You Already Took the Tests
Many readers find this article after the fact, having already performed the tests and now facing charges. Field sobriety test results are not bulletproof, and there are several lines of challenge that defense attorneys use.
Improper Administration
NHTSA validation depends on officers following the standardized procedures exactly. Skipped demonstrations, unclear instructions, rushed sequences, or failure to ask about physical conditions that affect balance all undermine the reliability the courts rely on. Attorneys typically pull the officer’s SFST training records and compare the roadside performance to the manual.5National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. DWI Detection and Standardized Field Sobriety Testing Participant Manual
Medical Conditions
Inner ear disorders, neurological conditions, back and knee problems, and various medications produce the same clues officers interpret as impairment. Nystagmus itself can come from brain injuries, inner ear inflammation, or prescription drugs that have nothing to do with alcohol. Documented medical history is powerful evidence that the test reflected your health rather than intoxication.
Environmental Factors
Uneven pavement, sloped shoulders, rain, wind, cold, flashing emergency lights, passing traffic, and inappropriate footwear all affect performance. The NHTSA manual acknowledges that certain shoes can compromise test performance, yet officers do not always offer the option to remove them. Dash cam and body cam footage often documents conditions the written report glossed over.
The Stop Itself
Every impaired-driving case starts with the traffic stop, and the stop requires reasonable suspicion. If it was based on an uncorroborated anonymous tip, a hunch, or a pretext that falls apart under scrutiny, the field sobriety results, the PBT, and any later chemical test can all be suppressed.
Officer Subjectivity
Unlike a chemical test that returns a number, field sobriety tests depend on officer judgment about what counts as swaying or losing balance. Two officers watching the same performance can reach different conclusions. Cross-examination can expose confirmation bias, and expert testimony can speak to the known error rates of the standardized tests, which are lower than many jurors assume.
Michigan BAC Thresholds Worth Knowing
Even if you decline the roadside coordination tests, the BAC numbers still matter because they drive what the officer may try to establish through other means.
Michigan sets 0.08 as the standard BAC limit for drivers 21 and older. Drivers under 21 face a 0.02 threshold. The High BAC law, sometimes called the “super drunk” law, triggers enhanced penalties at 0.17 or higher. Officers can arrest at any BAC level if there are signs of impairment while driving.6Michigan State Police. Impaired Driving Law
Michigan recognizes several related charges: Operating While Intoxicated at 0.08 or higher or with impairment that substantially affects safe operation; Operating While Visibly Impaired, a lesser charge that does not require a 0.08 BAC; High BAC for 0.17 or higher; and Operating With Any Presence of a Schedule 1 Drug or Cocaine, which is zero-tolerance and does not require proof of impairment.
None of these charges require field sobriety test results as a matter of law. They can be, and often are, proven through other evidence: driving behavior, officer observations at the window, the post-arrest chemical test, and statements the driver made. Declining the roadside tests takes one tool off the officer’s table. It does not take away the rest.