Dealing with License Suspension After an Arrest for OVI/DUI
March 3, 2020
Driving a vehicle is second nature to most people. You may use your car to get to classes or your job, run errands, or take your family members to school, appointments, and various activities.
How will you manage if law enforcement arrests you for OVI/DUI and suspends your driver’s license?
What May Happen
In the state of Ohio, you could face immediate license suspension if law enforcement arrests you on suspicion of drunk driving. Losing your driver’s license would have an immediate impact on your daily life. It would put any responsibilities that depend on driving in limbo and very likely inconvenience members of your family who depend on your ability to drive them where they need to go.
What to Expect
You have the right to challenge an Administrative License Suspension or ALS. While your OVI/DUI case is pending, an Ohio statute allows you to have pretrial driving privileges, if you are eligible. Even if you should lose your ALS hearing, you may qualify for limited driving privileges, although the court will determine the boundaries. For example, you could have clearance to drive for occupational, education or medical purposes, to attend a court-ordered treatment program or take a driver’s license examination
What Could Affect Your CDL
If you drive a commercial vehicle for a living, an arrest for OVI/DUI could jeopardize your commercial driver’s license, and the length of disqualification could be anywhere from 60 days to life. For example, if testing shows that you have a blood alcohol content level of 0.04% and you are a first-time offender, you face an out-of-service penalty of one year. If you have a second offense, you are looking at a lifetime penalty.
What the Court Considers
If the court modifies your suspended license to allow you limited driving privileges, it will specify the times you may drive as well as the destinations. Furthermore, the order of the court must be in the form of a journal entry bearing a court seal. To qualify, you cannot have an expired license, and you must comply with any suspension requirements.