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DUI Evaluations and Risk Assessments
When you have been arrested on charges of driving under the influence, there are a number of factors that will influence the severity of your sentence and your ability to drive again in the future. In most case, the penalties for a DUI conviction will include the revocation of your driving privileges for at least one year for first-time offenders, with much longer revocations possible for repeat offenders. Once your driver’s license has been revoked, it is possible to get your license reinstated, but getting back on the road can be long, tough journey with many requirements with which you must comply.
Evaluations
Before you will qualify for license reinstatement—or even for a restricted driving permit—you will be required to undergo an alcohol and drug evaluation with an approved, licensed provider. The purpose of the evaluation is to analyze your use or dependence on alcohol or drugs and to establish the risk—if any—you present to public safety. Your evaluation will include:
Driver’s License Reinstatement After Suspension
If you have been charged with drunk driving, reckless driving, or any other moving violation that resulted in the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license, your day-to-day life is likely to be severely affected. Not only will a person whose driver’s license is suspended need to make alternative travel plans—for him- or herself and for any children he or she may have —but also will need to begin the long process of driver’s license reinstatement. There are several things you should know about this process before you begin that can make it easier and progress more smoothly. The first is that it getting your license back is much easier with the assistance of a qualified legal professional.
Financial Costs
Even working with an attorney, driver’s license reinstatement is a costly process that can also often mean significant time spent wading through bureaucratic red tape. No matter the offense for which the license was suspended, the driver will first be subject to a $250 reinstatement fee paid to the Secretary of State. A portion of this—$30—goes to the Department of Health and Human Services to help cover the cost of alcohol and substance abuse programs for repeat driving offenders. If you are one of these repeat offenders, the fine is doubled to have the license reinstated; that is, if you have had your license suspended before, again, for any reason, not just alcohol-related charges, you will be subject to a $500 reinstatement fee. In this case, $60 of the fee is allocated for drunk and drugged prevention programs.
Installing and Using a BAIID in Illinois
If you know someone that was ever arrested on charges of drunk driving, he or she may have explained to you a little bit about the difficulties such an arrest can impose on one’s life. Of course, there are criminal penalties associated with a conviction on DUI charges, but those are far from the only challenges. In many cases, a driver charged with DUI is required to install a breath-alcohol ignition interlock device (BAIID) on his or her vehicle as a condition of the reinstatement of his or her driving privileges.
What Is a BAIID?
Simply put, a BAIID is breathalyzer machine that is installed in a car or truck that prevents the vehicle from starting if the driver’s breath contains too much alcohol. The device is able to convert the concentration of alcohol in a breath sample to an equivalent blood-alcohol content (BAC), which provides a measure of intoxication. If the driver’s BAC level is 0.025 percent or higher, the vehicle will not start. BAIIDs in Illinois are also equipped with a camera that snaps a photo of the person providing the sample to ensure that the sample collected belongs to the person operating the vehicle.
Refusing a BAC Test Could Cost You Your License
When you have been pulled over on suspicion of driving under the influence, a million thoughts start racing through your mind. Will I go to jail? How much will the fine be? Will I lose my license? Of course, these are all very valid concerns, but before you even get to the point where the answers start to become clear, you will probably be asked to submit to a breathalyzer test or another type of test to determine your blood-alcohol content, or BAC. How you respond to that request can have a major impact on not only your prosecution but on your ability to drive legally in the months that follow.
No Criminal Repercussions
Under Illinois law, it is not a crime to refuse to submit to BAC testing prior or subsequent to an arrest on DUI charges. That is not to say that a refusal does not have legal consequences. When you operate a motor vehicle on Illinois roads, the law presumes that you have granted your implied consent to BAC chemical testing whenever it is duly requested by an officer of the law. If you decide not to take the test, you cannot be criminally prosecuted for refusing, but you will almost certainly face civil sanctions.
Sprays, Mouthwash, and Other Breathalyzer Tricks That Probably Will Not Help You
In Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, the wise Jedi master Yoda offers this sage advice: "Fear is the path that leads to the dark side." There is no question that fear makes people do some pretty strange things. When we are afraid, we may lash out at close friends and loved ones, we may turn inward and become self-destructive, and we may act in ways that are very uncharacteristic. Fear is also often of the strongest emotions present when a person is pulled over on suspicion of drunk driving—fear of conviction, license suspension, and other penalties—and some drivers will do just about anything to escape prosecution.
One Poor Choice After Another
Earlier this week, a man in Rock Hill, South Carolina was pulled over by local police after law enforcement officers observed the man’s car swerving and crossing the center line several times. As the prepared to approach the car, officers say they saw the driver "actively spraying AXE body spray into his mouth," and included the observation in their police report. When they asked the man what he was doing, the report states that he told them he was just applying the spray from "head to toe."
DUI Penalties Increase for Underage and Repeat Offenders
Driving under the influence has serious consequences that can be long-lasting and affect both your criminal record and your driving record for years. This is true whether it is your first DUI offense or a repeat offense and whether you are of legal drinking age or not.
Underage DUI
Illinois is a zero-tolerance state, meaning that if you are not legally allowed to drink and are found guilty of a DUI, you will automatically have your driving privileges revoked for a minimum of three months. For an underage driver to be charged with a DUI, he or she does not have to exceed the legal blood alcohol content limit of .08 percent that applies to adults age 21 or over. Any percentage of alcohol found in an underage driver’s bloodstream makes him or her susceptible to a DUI charge.
Repeat Offenders and Multiple DUI
Stoned Driving in Illinois: New DUI Marijuana Standards
The debate over marijuana has been ongoing for a number of years in this country. Some states take a much more permissive approach to the drug and its use while others remain strict, begrudgingly updating their laws only when necessary. Thus far, Illinois has only been willing to take certain legislative steps pertaining to the use of marijuana in the state. Its medical marijuana program was very slow to get underway and efforts to decriminalize—not legalize—low-level possession of the drug took several years to pass. When the decriminalization bill was approved, however, it also addressed the issue of driving under the influence of marijuana, creating a quantitative standard for determining a driver’s impairment.
New Standards
Prior to the new law taking effect this past July, the state of Illinois maintained a zero-tolerance policy for driving under the influence of marijuana. If any trace of the drug was found in the driver’s system, he or she could be charged with DUI. The major problem with such an approach was that existing tests could detect traces of marijuana in a person’s body several weeks after use. In essence, the tests did not address the driver’s current state of impairment whatsoever.
Young Drivers and Traffic Stops; Learning the Rules of the Road
Being pulled over by police is a stressful experience for anyone, under any circumstances. The event can be especially nerve-wracking for young drivers who are often uninformed and unprepared to handle the situation. Young drivers are frequently pulled over by law enforcement on the roadways due to careless, distracted driving behaviors, such as texting and talking on the phone or interacting with other passengers. A traffic stop can quickly take a turn for the worst if the teen handles the situation poorly, which is why it is so important for every young driver to have a firm understanding of what to do when an officer directs them to the side of the road.
New Illinois Law Looks to Educate Teen Drivers
Whatever the reason for being pulled over, preventing an already tense situation from escalating is the number one concern for everyone involved. Many young drivers do not know how to act , highlighting the ongoing need to inform drivers about the proper way to handle a pull-over incident. Illinois lawmakers recently passed a measure that mandates that all driver’s education classes include a section on traffic stops for this very reason. The goal behind the law is to show teens the best way to respond and to keep problems during the interaction with police to a minimum.
Drunk Driving: A New Year’s Breathalyzer Could Cost You
This coming weekend is sure to be filled with parties focused on looking back on the year that was and ahead to the year that will be. While a champagne toast at midnight is common at many New Year’s Eve celebrations, a large number of revelers will continue to drink relatively heavily throughout the night and well into the next morning. Of course, those of legal drinking age are free to make their own choices regarding how much they have to drink, it is important to remember that getting behind the wheel after drinking can lead to serious legal problems.
DUI Checkpoints
Throughout the holiday season, efforts by law enforcement have been underway to combat drunk driving. One of the most common methods for doing so is the use of sobriety checkpoints on highly-traveled streets and highways during times when drunk drivers are likely be on the roads. If you encounter a sobriety checkpoint, you may be asked to submit to a battery of field sobriety tests. If the police have probable cause to believe that you are driving under the influence, you can be arrested on the spot.
DUI Prosecution and the Statute of Limitations
When a person is pulled over on the suspicion of driving under the influence (DUI), the next step is being taken into police custody until officers feel the individual is sober enough to make it home safely. In most cases, a citation is issued upon release which includes a date for a mandatory court appearance. All too often, however, defendants appear on their required date in court only to discover that their case is not actually on the docket. How does this happen? The answer may be found in what occurs after the issuance of the citation.
Behind the Scenes
Keep in mind that a county prosecutor’s office has a multitude of cases to review each day. Your case, while extremely important to you, is just one of many being processed at any given time. The date on the citation is often an arbitrary date, generally at least a month or two months after the incident initially occurred. It is presumed that this time is sufficient to accomplish the necessary steps, including:
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