What does Colorado's express consent law mean for a driver who is lawfully arrested for impaired driving?

Why B is correct

Express consent is a condition attached to the privilege of driving rather than a decision made at the roadside. In Colorado, anyone who drives on public roads is deemed to have already agreed that a lawful arrest for impaired driving brings with it a chemical test of breath or blood. Refusing does not end the matter: the refusal starts its own administrative process against the licence, separate from anything a criminal court does, and prosecutors may use the refusal as evidence. The practical effect is that the choice at the scene is between taking the test or losing driving privileges for refusing it, and neither option erases the arrest itself.

Why the other options are wrong

A. The driver may refuse any test without consequence

Refusal has never been consequence-free. Because consent was given in advance by the act of driving, refusing triggers administrative licence action on its own and can be treated as evidence of consciousness of impairment.

C. The driver may choose which test to take, but only after a court hearing

Choosing between breath and blood is an administrative detail handled at the testing location, not a right exercised at a hearing. The decision that actually matters — whether to submit to testing at all — has consequences either way.

D. The driver must give written consent at the scene before any test may be given

Nothing requires a signature before testing. Written consent at the scene misunderstands the word express: the consent is deemed to have been granted when the driver chose to use Colorado roads, not when paperwork is signed.

On the road

A driver arrested after weaving across the centre line refuses the breath test, believing refusal protects them. Instead the refusal begins a licence revocation of its own that runs regardless of what happens in the criminal case, and it becomes something a prosecutor can point to later.

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