Thanks to the California Legislature, our state enacted some years ago a law commonly known as a stop and snatch law. Essentially anyone stopped on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol whose Bac level is a .08% or more as their license taken by the police officer and forwarded to the DMV. In its place, the officer gives the driver a pink piece of paper known affectionately as an administrative per se drivers license.
Although this important piece of paper will serve as your drivers license, it hales on its face important information regarding your rights and obligations under California law. Most importantly it informs the driver that the DMV has commenced an action to suspend your license.
These suspected DUI driver with a .08 or over is put on notice that they are required to contact DMV within 10 days of their arrest, including weekends, to request a hearing to determine whether or not a suspension is appropriate based upon sufficient probable cause to stop and arrest the driver on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol. The second critical issue is whether these suspected driver was operating a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08% or more.
Failure to request such a hearing and delay, or in legal terms a stay, results in a drivers license being suspended commencing on the 31st day after their arrest.
Smart and responsible drivers contacting the DMV in a timely manner within the 10 days are often caught offguard in their attempt to exercise their rights to extend their driving privileges as well as request an administrative hearing to contest the pending suspension. Our firm frequently is told by clients that representatives of the Department of Motor Vehicles have overtly told drivers not to waste their time, or it will do no good. Drivers often are dissuaded, and advised that it's better to start your suspension after the 30 days, instead of waste their time exercising their rights to such a hearing.
Seeking the advice of an attorney, who frequently deals with the DMV, and understands the value of the client and his attorney carefully reviewing all police reports for accuracy, prior to deciding how to proceed in defending their vital driving privileges against a suspension. Exercise your rights in a timely manner, to avoid the awful consequence of losing your driving privilege. Frequently, through effective defense strategies, we are able to protect our clients valuable driving privileges, regardless of the specific facts of our clients cases. None of this is possible, unless the client contacts us within the allotted time to request a DMV hearing.
