YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE: IMMEDIATE ISSUES FOLLOWING A VENTURA DUI ARREST
If you are stopped for driving under the influence (DUI) in Ventura and either (i) refuse to submit to a breath or blood test to determine your blood alcohol concentration (BAC), or (ii) submit to the test and show a BAC level of 0.08% or above, the police will arrest you and take your driver’s license on the spot. At this time you will receive a thirty-day temporary license (also called a “pink sheet”), and you will be notified that your driver’s license will be automatically suspended if you do not request an administrative hearing at the California DMV within ten days of your arrest.
YOUR ADMINISTRATIVE HEARING AT THE CALIFORNIA DMV
If you do not timely request your DMV hearing, your temporary license will expire after thirty days, and your driver’s license will be suspended. For most standard first-time DUIs, this “administrative” suspension will be for a period of four months. If you get convicted in court, this will generally be extended to six months. However, in either situation, the suspension can be increased to a year or longer if you are under twenty-one, if you refused to submit to chemical (breath or blood) testing, if you had an extremely high BAC, or if there are extenuating circumstances involved in your alleged DUI.
It is important to note here that you can have your driver’s license suspended by the DMV even if you are not ultimately convicted of DUI. As a result, you absolutely must take your DMV hearing seriously.
Even if you request and appear for your DMV hearing, it is still possible that you will face an administrative suspension. However, there is no harm in requesting the DMV hearing; and, due to the DMV’s backlog, at the very least your temporary license will be extended (though requesting and obtaining a “white sheet”) until the DMV gets around to your case.
To learn more about the California DMV hearing process and how to protect your driver’s license, please click here.
OBTAINING A RESTRICTED LICENSE FOLLOWING AN ADMINISTRATIVE SUSPENSION OR DUI CONVICTION
Of course, life does not stop when you lose your driver’s license. You will still have to go to work, school or both, and if you are convicted you will have probably have to attend weekly classes in the Drinking Driver Program (alcohol school). In the vast majority of Ventura DUI cases, you will be able to obtain a restricted license that allows you to meet these obligations while your driver’s license is suspended.
With an administrative suspension, you must wait thirty days before you can request a restricted license. If you are convicted of DUI, California law allows you to obtain a restricted license as soon as you enroll in the Drinking Driver Program. The only exception (assuming you qualify) would be that if you received an administrative suspension from the DMV prior to your conviction, you still must be outside of the thirty-day waiting period.
VENTURA DUI ATTORNEY FOR DRIVER’S LICENSE SUSPENSIONS
If you have been charged with a Ventura DUI, hiring an experienced Ventura DUI attorney immediately will give you the best possible chance to protect your driver’s license. To learn more about what we can do to help you, request a free consultation today.
