If you have been charged with driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs (DUI), it is important that you contact the California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to schedule an Administrative Per Se (APS) hearing within ten (10) days of your arrest. If a hearing is not requested within the 10 day period, which includes weekends and holidays, your driver license will automatically be suspended for a minimum of 30 days.
Suspension of License
When a person is arrested for DUI and has a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or higher, the arresting officer will take away the person’s license at the time of the arrest. After taking the individual’s license, the officer will issue him or her a temporary driver’s license, which allows the person to drive for a period of 30 days. Within ten days (10) of the arrest, the individual must contact the California DMV to schedule an Administrative Per Se (APS) hearing in order to contest the terms of his or her license suspension. If a hearing is not scheduled within ten days (10) of the arrest or if an individual refused to submit to a blood alcohol test, the person’s driver license will be automatically suspended.
Logistics of the Hearing
The DMV hearing may take place in person or over the phone. During the hearing, a DMV employee will act as both the prosecutor and the judge. It is the DMV hearing officer’s job to evaluate the offender’s case carefully. The DMV representative must determine whether or not the officer had probable cause for making the arrest, whether or not the arrest was properly executed, and whether or not the offender had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08% at the time of the arrest in order to decide the fate of the individual’s driving privilege.
Refusal Cases
In cases where the person refused to submit to a BAC test, the DMV representative must determine if the person was informed that his or her license would automatically be suspended for failing to consent to the test. The representative must also determine if the person actually refused to take the BAC test after being informed of the suspension. If the accused motorist is unsuccessful at the California DMV hearing, the length of the driver’s license suspension will be substantially longer than for a driver who submitted to a chemical test.
DMV Decision
California driver’s license suspensionsAfter all of these issues are considered, the DMV hearing officer will reach a decision. If the DMV representative decides based on the evidence provided that the individual is “not guilty,” the person’s driving privileges will be reinstated. If the person is found “guilty,” his or her driver’s license may remain suspended for a period lasting between 4 months (for a first offense) and 3 years (for multiple offenses).
DMV Administrative Per Se hearings can be won, but usually only with the assistance of a Sacramento DUI defense attorney with specialized knowledge of the DMV hearing process.
Driving under the influence (or DUI) is a serious offense. If you have ever had a California DUI conviction, you most certainly know that the consequences can be both humiliating and expensive. Aside from the fines, attorney fees, and license suspension, there are the more long-term consequences, such as the impact on your car insurance rates and coverage.
If you are convicted of a Sacramento DUI, more often than not, your insurance company will find out about the DUI and will deal with you in one of two ways. Typically, your rates will go up, sometimes substantially, or, the company will simply cancel your policy. If your insurance company raises your premiums but keeps you as an insured, you will likely be labeled a “high-risk driver.” California requires the insurance company to provide the state motor vehicle agency (DMV, MVD) with an SR-22 Proof of Insurance Certificate, which removes your license suspension by providing the state with proof that you are insured.
While this is all starting to sound fine and dandy, the catch is that not all insurance companies offer SR-22 policies. So your policy may be non-renewed or cancelled simply because the company can no longer provide insurance for you.
Another less-likely scenario is that your insurance company doesn’t find out about your Sacramento, California DUI because, for whatever reason, it slips through the cracks of red tape. Occasionally, your insurer will not raise your rates or cancel you if you’ve been a long time insured with no other blemishes on your record. But this is also pretty unlikely.
If you need a California DUI Lawyer visit the California DUI Attorneys Directory.
1 hour in cuffs
4 hours in jail
3 hours getting car back
2 days at the DMV
2 days picking up highway trash
2 nights DUI Victim Impact Panel
15 weeks DUI class
4 months without a license
3 years probation
7 years with 2 points on driving record
$5,294 in assessment, fees, & fines
$187 for towing & storage
$156 booking, finger printing, and photo fee
$100 license reinstatement
$2,700 car insurance increase
$480 DUI fine
$816 assessment for the court system
$44 community service fee
$100 for DUI Victim’s fund
$50 toward Alcohol Education Fund
$1 night court fee
$550 DUI class
$20 VUI Victim’s Impact sessions
$35 time payment charge
$10 DMV file search charge
$5,294: TOTAL