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I Have A Commercial Driver’s License. How Will A DUI Impact Me?

The requirements for CDL holders are more strict than on private drivers. If you are driving a commercial vehicle, instead of the legal limit being 0.08, it is 0.04. While you can get a DUI in your private vehicle with 0.08, if you're driving a commercial vehicle and you are over 0.04, there is an automatic one-year invalidation of your commercial driver's license. This is different than a suspension or revocation. If you get a second DUI while you're holding a commercial driver's license, then you are subject to a lifetime suspension of your commercial driver's license. You cannot get a commercial driver's license again in your life. Obviously, someone in that situation has to choose his DUI lawyer very carefully to protect their ability to earn a living. 

What Happens If I Miss The Filing Date to Demand My Administrative Hearing?

When you are arrested for DUI, they issue a DUI uniform traffic citation, which contains a notice of suspension stating that you have ten days to drive on the citation and within those ten days, if you want to challenge the suspension, you have to file a written demand for a hearing to the Department of Motor Vehicles. Sometimes, people are released from jail and are never given that DUI uniform traffic citation. In those situations, we have gotten a hearing set by having someone file an affidavit with their demand for a hearing, stating that they were never given a copy of their uniform traffic citation and notice of suspension. If they don't have a notice of suspension, then they can't be held responsible for demanding a hearing within ten days. 

If you just went home and hid under your pillow for ten days because you were depressed about the whole thing, and never got around to talking to a lawyer, then there is probably not whole lot we can do. 

Will My Driver's License Be Reinstated Automatically After My Suspension Period Is Over?

Typically, in Florida, people apply for business purpose only license before their suspension expires. If you blew over a 0.08, you have a six-month suspension and the first month of that is called a hard time suspension, where you can't drive at all. During that time, you can take DUI School. Once you enroll in DUI School, you can apply for a Business Purpose Only license, which will allow you limited business license privileges until the case is resolved. If it's a first offense and you get convicted of DUI, then you can reinstate your Business Purpose Only license. 

When your suspension period is over, it does not reinstate your license automatically. You have to take DUI School, complete an alcohol assessment, and begin any recommended treatment, before you get your driver's license reinstated. 

What Happens If I Receive A Traffic Infraction With A Suspended License?

As long as your driving is consistent with the requirements of your restricted license, a traffic ticket is treated as any other traffic citation. You just have to decide whether you want to pay it, challenge it, or go traffic school to get it off your record. 

For more information on DUI With A Commercial Driver's License, an initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (786) 579-2100 today.

Why We're Different

Board Certification as a DUI Specialist by the National College for DUI Defense. Formal NHTSA Certification as an Instructor of the Standardized Field Sobriety Tests given by police in DUI cases. Formal training as a NHTSA Drug Recognition Evaluator. ("Drug Evaluation & Classification") Formal training to operate the Intoxilyzer 8000, Florida's official breath test instrument. Extensive experience in teaching other attorneys how to handle DUI cases. Hundreds of jury trials both as defense lawyer and as prosecutor.

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