We can evaluate your status at DMV and tell you what needs to be done to reinstate your driving privilege.

Drunk Driving Fines and Other Penalties The penalty for a first offense DUI in court usually results in a payment in the amount of nearly $2000 when the fines, penalty assessments, and other special assessments are added together. Additionally two days of county jail are required. Further, some type of alcohol class will be required, the most common of which is a thirty-hour class. The cost for the class is around $600. License sanctions usually involve a four month suspension and a six month restriction. Of course, judges have the discretion to make the penalties much more severe if the circumstances are aggravated. A second offense within 10 years creates more severe penalties. Not only is the fine higher, but there is a requirement of at least four days in a lock-up facility, in other words, real jail, not just community work. If probation is not granted the minimum jail time is 90 days. Usually there is community work time required in addition to the real jail time. Also, for a second offense the alcohol class is much more substantial, lasting 18 months and costing about $1500. You can decide not to take the class, but without it you will never be able to drive legally in California. DMV will suspend the license for two years with the possibility of getting a restricted license after one year if you are in the class. If you cause an accident and injure someone as a result, your arrest for drunk driving can be charged as a felony instead of the normal misdemeanor charge. In addition, you can be charged with a felony if you have had three misdemeanor DUI violations within the last 10 years. In other words a forth one in 10 years can be a felony. One last way you can be charged with a felony is if you have one prior felony DUI within 10 years, then the current one can also be a felony. The court and DMV penalties aren’t the end of the story though. Other problems stem from DUI convictions. Professional drivers are often out of a job with even one DUI appearing on the driving record. Other monetary effects include higher insurance rates and the requirement to put special devices on the vehicle. In order to get a restricted license many people will have to put an interlock device on their cars. This is a unit that the driver must blow into prior to starting the car. If the device detects alcohol in the breath it will not allow the vehicle to be started. This can be an expensive device to install and maintain. License Actions After being arrested for a DUI, a driver's license is immediately confiscated by law enforcement and he is given a "Notice of Suspension." The notice is a temporary driver license and it also explains the procedure for challenging the suspension at DMV. Among other things, it informs the driver that a hearing must be requested within 10 days of receipt of the notice. If a request for a hearing is not made within the 10 day time limit, DMV will automatically suspend after the 30-day temporary license is expired. Here is a list of DMV offices where you can request a hearing: City of Commerce (323)724-4000 El Segundo (310) 615-3500 Fresno (559) 445-6399 Irvine (949) 440-4416 Oakland (510) 563-8900 Oxnard (805) 488-0863 Redding (530) 229-0553 Sacramento (916) 227-2970 San Bernardino (909) 383-7413 San Diego (858) 627-3901 San Francisco (415) 557-1170 San Jose (408) 229-7100 Van Nuys (818) 376-4217