For a San Bernardino DUI, a couple of license suspensions are possible. One would be from the courts and the other would be from the DMV. Even before your trial, the first license suspension you face is administrative suspension or “admin per se” from the DMV.
It’s important, if convicted, to understand the type of license suspension after a DUI that applies to your circumstances. Compared to administrative suspensions, court-ordered suspensions are much longer and can seriously affect your career and your life.
First Time DUI License Suspension
If you’re trying to find out how long a first DUI driver’s license suspension will last, the fast and easy answer is: six months. However, there are complications where license suspension rules in California are concerned. How long your suspension lasts can be affected by several factors.
The first factor: Has the administrative suspension already been served? Those can last as long as four months. The length of your court-ordered suspension will be lessened by the amount of time the administrative suspension lasted. So, the total suspension time would be six months, but your license would only be suspended for two months because it was already suspended for four months.
The second factor: If jail time was served, how much? There is usually a minimum jail sentence of 48 hours (two days) carried by a first offense DUI. If you opt for a longer license suspension, the jail time can be waived. Basically, you have two choices:
- No jail time but nine months with no driving
- Two days in jail but only six months with no driving
Driving Privileges that Are Restricted
In many cases, restricted driving privileges may be qualified for by an individual with a first-time DUI. With this license, during your suspension period, you can drive to court-ordered programs and back-and-forth to and from work. During the first 30 days, however, you won’t qualify for a restricted driving privilege. This period is referred to as “hard suspension”. For the rest of your suspension, however, you should be able to get restricted privileges if it’s your first-time misdemeanor DUI.
Remember that you could receive a longer suspension if there are extenuating circumstances. Everything referred to here basically revolves around minimum penalties.
Second and Third DUI License Suspensions
Harsher penalties are dealt out for repeat DUI offenses. Your license suspension will last longer, the more offenses you rack up:
- Two-year suspension for second DUI
- Three-year suspension for third DUI
- Four-year suspension for fourth DUI (What’s more, it’s entirely possible you can have your license permanently revoked and/or receive “Habitual Traffic Offender” status.)
Count on Jackson-Bibby Awareness Group, Inc. Provides DUI Classes
For convicted offenders – either multiple DUI offenders or first offenders – Jackson-Bibby Awareness Group provides education programs. Our San Bernardino DUI programs involve mentoring, classes, and counseling. Since 1981, we have served Riverside, San Bernardino, and other counties in the area. We look after both the needs of our clients and those of the community.
We have offices in Barstow, Redlands, and Victorville. Contact us if you would like to receive more information about classes or how to enroll.
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