Driving Privileges and the DMV

When a California driver is arrested for a DUI he/she is supposed to be given a choice of a breathtest or a blood test. If the breath test result is at least .08% blood-alcohol or  a blood is taken for later analysis or the person refuses chemical testing, the  license is immediately confiscated (out-of-state license may be kept) and a pink temporary license is given. This temporary is a formal notice of impending suspension, is a temporary license, valid for 30 days and gives details of the laws regarding the license.

For a first offense, the license is  suspended for 4 months. But, if the person enrolls in DUI school and has an SR-22 filed (a document showing proof of insurance following a DUI) the suspension can be converted to a restriction after only one month of suspension. However, chemical test refusal cases require the license to be suspended for one full year. Second offense cases within 10 years require a full year suspension and two years for refusals.

However, the DMV does grant hearings to determine if the suspension is valid You or your attorney have only 10 calendar days to contact the Driver’s Safety Office of the Department of Motor Vehicles to request this hearing.

The Good News

For most cases, I highly recommend that a hearing be requested. There are often issues I can discover to argue with the hearing officer in order to “win” the DMV hearing—and save driving privileges in many cases. The request usually “buys the defendant some time” at the very least. Invariably, the DMV is not able to schedule the DMV within 30 days of the request, so an experienced attorney will request a “stay of execution” meaning you will be able to maintain driving privileges until the decision and notification of results.

Due to the technical arguments used for these hearings and the fact that a DMV hearing officer acts as “Judge, Jury and Executioner,” it may not be in your best interest to represent yourself. Furthermore, public defenders are not able to represent people in these hearings.  For most cases, the best opportunity for a “win” lies with an
experienced DUI attorney.