The most important thing you should know about what will happen at the DMV because of your DUI, Drunk Driving, or DWI case is this:
THE DMV REQUIRES THAT YOU ACT
WITHIN TEN DAYS (not business days)
from the date of your arrest to protect your driving privileges.
(The Irvine DMV Office of Driver Safety, where all OC DMV Hearings are held)
What you need to do now:
If you were arrested in California for DUI, you must act quickly. Most people tend to focus on their court date, and don’t even bother to read the fine print on the pink “Temporary License” that was given when arrested. While your court date (your arraignment may not be held immediately, under a law enacted by the legislature and signed into law by the Governor as a deterrent to drunk driving, known as the ADMIN PER SE Immediate Driver License Suspension program, you must act to save your license with the DMV by requesting both a hearing, AND a stay on your license suspension.
How do you request a hearing? If you are going to have a professional handle your DUI, then your attorney will take care of that for you. If you’re close to the 10 day deadline, however, you should take care of it. As attorneys, we usually will send a formal notice to the DMV, which asserts your rights at the hearing, requests your discovery (police reports and other documentary evidence), and follow up with a phone call, and schedule the hearing right there and then. However, if you don’t have time to get an attorney yet, at least call.
The telephone number to call is the DMV Office of Driver Safety that has jurisdiction over your case. If your DUI is in Orange County, then you’ll need to call (949) 440-4416 to schedule your hearing. For other jurisdictions, see the list of California DMV Office of Driver Safety Locations and Addresses.
Why hire us for your DMV hearing?
The DMV wants to suspend your driver's license for anywhere from 4 months (first offense with blood alcohol over 0.08%) to 3 years (third or more offense with chemical test refusal) as a result of your drunk driving arrest. This is an entirely separate proceeding from your criminal prosecution. A public defender will not handle a DMV hearing for you. The court does not have the power to give you a restricted license, as the DMV has the ultimate jurisdiction over your driving privilege.
Our firm puts every effort into these hearings, which is why we have such a high success rate in winning DMV hearings. We always do an in person hearing. We always involve a forensic toxicologist to provide expert opinion on cases where that will make a difference. We will subpoena the police officer to come in and testify where that will help the case. We know each and every DMV hearing officer, and how best to get to a successful outcome in these cases.
In Southern California, driving is extremely important – in fact it’s a necessity. When it comes to your driver’s license, get professional representation from an experienced attorney immediately to protect your driving privilege. Our firm also represents individuals with negligent operator (too many points) suspensions, and medical or lapse of consciousness suspensions before the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Call now – it’s not to your advantage to delay. You can reach us by phone at (877) 568-2977, or by using our online case evaluation form, 24 hours a day
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