Does a licensee who refuses to submit to a breathalyzer test under section 13353 of the California Vehicle Licence Act, if the other conditions prescribed under that section also exist, make himself liable to suspension of his driving privileges?

A licensee who refuses to submit to any of the alternative types of tests provided by section 13353, if the other conditions prescribed by the section also exist, makes himself liable to the suspension of his driving privileges. The proceedings leading up to such a suspension of his driving privileges upon those grounds are civil in nature, rather than criminal. (See State v. Muzzy, 124 Vt. 222, 202 A.2d 267.)

In People v. Sudduth, 65 Cal.2d 543, 547, 55 Cal.Rptr. 393, 421 P.2d 401, the court pointed out the distinction between the verbal refusal to take a 'breathalyzer test' and the refusal to answer questions that might tend to incriminate, holding that evidence of the defendant's refusal to take the test was admissible and might be the subject of comment and of a proper instruction by the court.