Do you need a limited driving privilege for DWI in Raleigh?

Raleigh, NC - Limited Driving Privilege Attorney

Do you need a limited driving privilege for Driving While Impaired (DWI & DUI) in Raleigh, Wake County, North Carolina? Here are the facts.

Pre-Trial Limited Driving Privilege

The DMV will automatically suspend your drivers license for 30 days if you are charged with DWI and either blew a 0.08 or greater on the breath test at the police station or were unable to provide two valid breath samples and the officer marked your test results as refused. This suspension begins when the magistrate charges you with DWI and continues for 30 calendar days. On the 11th day following your arrest, I can go to court for you and get you a limited driving privilege so you may resume driving as soon as possible. You don't have to go to court. The standard pre-trial limited privilege allows you to drive from home to work and back and for family obligations Monday - Friday from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. We can get you extra driving hours for work with documentation of hours needed. To get a Pre-Trial Limited Driving Privilege, we need your help. First, call your auto insurance company and have them send us ‚ DL-123‚ confirming that you are an insured driver on their policy. The ‚ DL-123‚ expires after 30 days. Second, obtain a DWI alcohol assessment from a NC State certified counselor stating that you have signed up for the recommended treatment. The assessment must state that you have ‚ signed up‚ before the judge will accept it. Please have the counselor send us a copy of the assessment. Third, send us $100 to your court processing fee. Fourth, provide us with the name and address of your employer(s) and/or school. If you work or attend classes on the weekends, or Monday through Friday before 6 a.m. or after 8 p.m., then you must provide written proof like a time card, work schedule, school schedule or letter from your employer or teacher. Otherwise, your approved driving hours for work and school will be Monday through Friday 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. I will obtain a copy of your NC driving record, prepare all the paperwork and get the judge to sign your limited driving privilege without asking you to come to court.

Getting Your Driver's License Card Back

On the 31st day after your arrest, your Pre-Trial Limited Driving Privilege expires. You may go to room 1001 at the Wake County Courthouse and pay the clerk $100 in cash to get your license back. Or you may send us this $100 and we will get your license for you so you don't have to go to court. When you get your license back, you may drive with all the same rights and restrictions that you had before being charged with DWI.

Limited Driving Privilege after Conviction.

As your lawyer, my job is to persuade the judge to find you not guilty of Driving While Impaired at trial. However, if you are convicted, you may be eligible for a second limited driving privilege by providing the same documentation described in the pre-trial limited driving privilege section above. One year after your DWI conviction, your limited driving privilege will expire and you must go to the DMV and get a new driver's license.

Limited Driving Privilege for Alcohol Concentration of 0.15% or Greater

If your blood or alcohol breath test was 0.15% or greater and the judge notes this on your judgement, then your limited privilege only allows you to drive to and from work and school. You may not drive for other ‚ family obligations.‚ Also, you may not drive at all for the first 45 days following you conviction and you must have an alcohol interlock machine installed in the car you drive. The interlock machine requires the driver to blow into it every time he starts the engine to confirm the absence of alcohol on the driver's breath. The DMV requires you to drive with the interlock machine for a full twelve months. Even after you get your driver's license reinstated one year after your conviction, you must continue driving with the interlock machine for the remainder of the twelve month interlock requirement. Often, I can keep the judge from noting your high breath test result on the judgement to avoid these extra limited driving privilege restrictions. This will delay the interlock installation requirement for one year. To get your license reinstated twelve months after your DWI conviction, you must have an interlock machine installed and drive with it for one year if your blood alcohol concentration was 0.15% or greater.

Limited Driving Privilege for Refusal to Provide Two Valid Samples

If the officer marked your breath test result as a ‚ willful refusal,‚ then the DMV will send you a letter stating that your driver's license will be suspended for 12 months unless you file an appeal immediately. The DMV will send this notice to the address listed on your DMV records, not the address on the DWI citation. Please confirm that the DMV has your correct address so you get the letter. As long as the DMV sends you written notice of this suspension, your refusal suspension will become final even if you don't receive the notice. For my clients expecting ‚ refusal‚ suspension notices, I check the DMV records every week to be sure we don't miss the appeal deadline. Please call me for detailed information specific to your case at 919-481-0011