What does DUI mean? The acronym “D.U.I.” is best known in the United States to represent the crime of driving under the influence. This same traffic violation crime is called either “drunk driving,” driving while impaired or driving while intoxicated in other states.
What’s DUI? This article explains “what is a DUI?” In addition, the authors explain the role of DUI defense attorneys when they undertake to defend those accused of operating a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol, drugs, noxious vapors, marijuana, or any other impairing substance of any type.
Those charged with intoxicated driving or impaired driving are sometimes encountered late at night, and then pass through DUI checkpoints or driver’s license checks that have been set up by local police or the Georgia State Patrol. These sobriety checkpoints, however, represent fewer than 2% of all DUI charges prosecutes in criminal courts annually in the State of Georgia.
7 Common Georgia DUI Law Questions Asked By Clients
By answering 7 common questions on “what is DUI,” and about impaired driving laws in GA, our DUI attorneys hope to alert those accused drivers of the many pitfalls that await them, if convicted of operating while impaired. In locating a DUI lawyer near me, if you are indigent, your criminal court judge will have to approve legal counsel being appointed for your criminal case.
- How long does DUI stay on your record after conviction, before a DUI offense in Georgia be expunged at some time in the future? Forever, unfortunately. Georgia laws prohibit expunction (record restriction) including the criminal record of any DUI being reduced to reckless driving in Georgia. Plus, federal record keepers at the NCIC in Clarksburg WV never remove any OWI-DUI convictions, regardless of what state laws provide.
- My plastic license was taken from me when I was arrested. How do I get my plastic driver’s license back? This is a highly important issue, because the officer is supposed to replace your plastic with a temporary “limited driving permit.”
As the document states, this permit expires very soon, and eligible drivers need to either opt for a 12-month ignition interlock device limited driving permit under OCGA 40-5-64.1 or file an appeal to the pending, administrative license suspension under Georgia’s implied consent laws. The three lawyers for DUI near me at our law office offer free lawyer consultations to make certain that this vital aspect of every DUI arrest in Georgia is properly handled.
- Is jail time required for a first offense DUI? The statute, C.G.A. 40-6-391, calls for between 10 days to 12 months, but in a 1st DUI within a 10 year period, based on dates of arrest, a driver who does not have a BAC test of her or his alcohol level in excess of 0.08 grams percent can have legal counsel to request that the judge probate all jail time beyond whatever time the defendant served after being arrested for being alleged driving impaired.
- As between DWI vs DUI, which is worse? These are the same crimes, but each state enacts its motor vehicle crimes, and “names” the offense as that state sees fit. In the USA, over a dozen different acronyms are abbreviations pointing to the same crime of being under the influence (DUI) and being a high-risk driver, in terms of traffic safety issues.
- How does DUI affect car insurance rates? Following notice of a conviction for drunken driving, many insurers drop the person, unless state laws do not allow the company to do that. When the next policy renewal goes into effect, most insurance DUI premiums will double, triple or more.
Plus, the car insurance quote for a high-risk driver policy usually is only offered with lower liability rates and will not offer an umbrella policy. These drivers with a DUI will find that for three years or more, their rates will be substantially higher.
- What happens if I am convicted of a felony DUI in Georgia? Jail time is mandatory. All punishments are much more punitive in terms of the minimum number of community service hours (480), fines and surcharges and loss of all driving privileges after a total driver license revocation for five (5) years.
- Are DUI checkpoints near me legal? Possibly not, but this can only be determined by examining all of the police agency’s paperwork showing that the commanding officers in their office were not allowing bias or discrimination against any group by having all roadblock locations selected at a “programmatic level” and not by the officer patrolling the streets.
Can You Get a C.D.L. With a DUI On Your Driving Record?
With only 1 prior DUI conviction, possibly after a full one year after conviction. With two DUIs, the waiting period will be 10 years after the last conviction date. Then, a bigger question is which companies will hire you?
The acronym “CDL” represents the phrase “commercial driver’s license.” Since 1992, the United States (for interstate commerce vehicles) has regulated the issuance of a special “overlay” of a regular state-issued operator’s license through the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (part of the federal D.O.T.)
The requirements for approving interstate drivers vary, depending upon whether the commercial license holder gets approved for transporting hazardous materials or explosive cargo. Multiple levels of basic and advanced training for different types of commercial license “overlays” are part of training in all states. Roughly 4 million commercial vehicle licenses exist in the United States in 2023.
Comparing Attorneys for DUI Near Me for My Criminal Defense
Our criminal defense law firm practices across the State of Georgia. In addition, by attending and occasionally speaking at national DUI-DWI seminars, our collective courtroom experience has brought our lawyers for DUI defense in contact with hundreds of skilled DUI defense attorneys across America.
Don’t simply select your criminal attorney from a flashy web site. Look at the proven credentials and verifiable attorney reviews prior to selecting a DWI-DUI attorney to fight your DUI charges.
Call today at 404-567-5515, for help on a GA DUI case. If accused in any other State, please call our DUI defense lawyers for a name, and her or his contact information. You call is FREE and our criminal law attorneys’ initial legal advice is FREE. Plus, if done within a few days after your arrest, this call may alert you to important deadlines for protecting your right to drive, that you may have overlooked.
