Vehicle Code 23578 VC – DUI Penalties for Excessive BAC or Test Refusal

Vehicle Code 23578 VC is the California statute that allows a court to impose enhanced penalties in DUI cases involving an excessive BAC or a chemical test refusal.

A high BAC is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher.

A test refusal is when a defendant refuses either:

• a breath test, or
• a urine test.

This DUI law code section states:

“In addition to any other provision of this code, if a person is convicted of a violation of Section 23152 or 23153, the court shall consider a concentration of alcohol in the person’s blood of 0.15 percent or more, by weight, or the refusal of the person to take a breath or urine test, as a special factor that may justify enhancing the penalties in sentencing, in determining whether to grant probation, and, if probation is granted, in determining additional or enhanced terms and conditions of probation.”

Additional penalties, under VC 23578, may include:

• additional jail time,
• a longer driver’s license suspension by the DMV,
• installation of ignition interlock device (IID) in the defendant’s vehicles, and
• additional DUI classes.

California’s enhanced DUI penalties laws apply when a driver is convicted of either:

1. a violation of Vehicle Code 23152a VC or 23152b VC, driving under the influence, or
2. a violation of Vehicle Code 23153 VC, DUI causing injury.

Our California DUI attorneys will highlight the following in this article:

• 1. When is Vehicle Code 23578 imposed?
  • 1.1 Excessive blood alcohol
  • 1.2 Test Refusal
• 2. What are “enhanced” penalties?
• 3. What are the DUI cases where a court may apply these penalties?
• 4. Are these penalties always enforced?

1. When is Vehicle Code 23578 imposed?

A court may impose California’s laws on enhanced DUI penalties when:

1. a defendant had an excessive blood alcohol content (BAC) as determined from the blood test or breath test, or
2. a defendant refused a test by law enforcement.

1.1. Excessive Blood Alcohol

“Excessive blood alcohol,” under this statute, is a blood alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher.¹

Note that California’s “legal limit” in DUI cases is a BAC of .08%. If a motorist is below this limit, he is not guilty of per se DUI. If a driver is above this limit, he is guilty of per se DUI.

1.2. Test refusal

A “test refusal,” under this law, is when a defendant refuses either:

• a breath test, or
• a blood or urine test.²

Note that when a motorist gets a California driver’s license, he:

• implicitly agrees to,
• take a chemical test (either breath or urine test),

if the motorist is arrested for DUI.

This is known as California’s implied consent law.

Please note that this law only applies to breath tests after a lawful DUI arrest. This means that a driver can still refuse to take a preliminary alcohol screening (PAS) breath test before an arrest takes place.

2. What are “enhanced” penalties?

“Enhanced” penalties under this code section mean harsher penalties than normally imposed for a DUI conviction.³

For example, a first time DUI conviction in California may result in the following penalties:

1. A four-month suspended license, and/or
2. DUI classes for three months.

Under Vehicle Code 23578, these penalties may increase to:

• a driver’s license suspension for six months, and
• DUI classes for nine months.

Tougher penalties may also take the form of:

• additional time in county jail or state prison,
• steeper fines,
• community service,
• longer periods of misdemeanor (summary) probation, and/or
• more severe probation conditions.

Note that this law applies when a driver receives either:

1. a first offense DUI, or
2. any subsequent DUIs.

It does not matter if the defendant has no prior DUI offenses.

3. What are the DUI cases where a court may apply these penalties?

California’s enhanced DUI penalties laws apply to two types of DUI charges. These are when a driver is convicted of:

1. driving under the influence, per Vehicle Code 23152 VC, or
2. DUI causing injury, per Vehicle Code 23153.

A person violates VC 23152 when he:

• operates a motor vehicle,
• while “under the influence” of alcohol or with a BAC of .08 or higher.⁴

“Under the influence” means that a driver’s physical or mental abilities are impaired to the extent that he can no longer drive as well as a cautious sober person.⁵

A person violates VC 23153 when he:

1. drives under the influence, and
2. causes bodily injury to another person as a result.⁶

A driver can be convicted of this crime if he is under the influence of:

• alcohol,
• drugs (known as DUID), or
• a combination of drugs or alcohol.

4. Are these penalties always enforced?

The enhanced penalties under Vehicle Code 23578 are not imposed in every case of:

• driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and
• DUI causing injury.

The statute states that:

“the court shall consider [an excessive BAC and test refusal] as a special factor that may justify enhancing the penalties in sentencing…”⁷ (emphasis added).

This language means that a court is not required to impose tougher penalties in all cases. Rather, the court may choose to punish a defendant with harsher penalties at its discretion. DUI attorneys fight against these extra punishments.

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