A DUI or OWI can drastically change your day-to-day life. Perhaps the biggest impact is the immediate loss of your license, which can lead to the loss of your job and worse. There are ways to reinstate your license or acquire permits that allow you to get to work and take kids to school. However, it’s never easy to get these parts of the process in motion immediately. Most people end up driving with a suspended or revoked license anyway, risking further legal trouble.
Don’t risk driving on an inactive license. Instead, work with an Indianapolis DUI defense attorney to expedite the reinstatement of your driver’s license. These professionals understand how to work with the BMV and what you need to accomplish this as quickly as possible. Read more here on the possibilities of reinstating a suspended license while still fighting here, DUI.
My First DUI
On your first DUI, you can usually get a permit right away. You express to the court your need to get to work, primarily to pay DUI and court fees, and they’ll help. Or they’ll offer you a permit until your case goes to court so that you can work with your attorney and start taking steps to prove good faith.
For example, telling the court (and following up on your claims) that you need a vehicle to not only get to work but local AA meetings and MADD events, then you’re probably going to get approval.
Your first DUI in Indiana can result in a suspension between 180 days to one year. Imagine going six months without your license? Typically that starts right away, and you won’t leave the police department with your license.
Second DUI License Impact
Indiana has a very low tolerance for habitual OWI or DUI offenders. In fact, they have a system in place that declares if a driver has two OWI offenses within a ten-year time frame, they could lose their license for ten years.
Does that mean that will happen? Not exactly because when it comes to the court system, there’s quite a bit of understanding on a personal level. If someone has gone nine years without a DUI, is it really a habitual offense? Although the laws itself are strict, the court system often considers the human element involved in DUI penalties.
Now, if this is your second DUI, does not to say that a judge will go easy on you. In fact, they may choose not to lift your suspension or issue a permit, which would allow you to drive with restrictions. If this is your second DUI, you need guidance on how to attempt to get your license back so that your daily life is not disrupted so drastically.
License Reinstatement and Suspension
What happens in most suspensions is that a court must place an order to the BMV for suspension. In that vein, it seems like you’d have your license until you went to court, but OWI and DUI charges are different than other suspensions.
These aren’t usually suspensions for reckless driving and such until after your court date. But the police department will issue an immediate suspension on your license after you test over 0.08% BAC in any of the tests they give you. They can even suspend your license only based on a field sobriety test, which clearly doesn’t catalog BAC at all.
It is possible to reinstate your license and take steps of good faith to show that you’re not likely to re-offend. But, with the situations varying for each case, it’s impossible to say that your license will reactivate anytime soon.
What to Expect With Your DUI Defense Attorney in Indianapolis
We hope that you never have to call a DUI defense attorney, but life happens. If you’re in Indianapolis and find yourself facing an OWI call the Rathburn Law Office P.C.s. Our team will focus on stabilizing your life while you fight these charges because we know that there’s always another side. All too often, people simply believe a police report about a BAC and don’t look at the reasonable elements such as cause to pull over.
Don’t get pushed around or harassed by local police and let that one experience destroy the next twelve months of your life. Fight to get your license back, fight to stay out of jail, and fight to reduce or eliminate any fines associated with your ticket. At Rathburn Law, we’ll put up the strongest fight possible, knowing that you need someone in your corner.
