Under Florida law, not all DUI offenses are treated equally. If you drive for a living, you probably have a commercial driver’s license. If you’re stopped by a police officer FOR ANY TRAFFIC OFFENSE INCUDING A DUI the impact on your livelihood and your ability to support your family can be devastating. Being accused of a DUI is bad enough. Being accused when you need your CDL to be able to feed your family can be terrifying.
Our Board-Certified DUI defense experts will help put your mind at ease. We will discuss with you the facts of your case, and how we can assist in saving your livelihood. We will let you know the impact that a criminal or civil traffic infraction might have on your commercial driver’s license and discuss ways to minimize that impact.
Regardless of whether or not you were driving a commercial vehicle or your own private car, a DUI will affect your CDL, though the penalties are harsher and the level of alcohol allowed in your system varies depending on what you were driving. The attorneys aqt Katz & Phillips, P.A. represent CDL holders in Central Florida, including Orlando, Kissimmee, Altamonte Springs, Lake Mary, Tavares, Daytona Beach, Winter Park, and all of Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake and Volusia counties.
One call is all it takes to learn how we cqn craft a defense to fit your case and your priorities. Call today to discuss how we can help protect your CDL, your future, and your family from the consequences of a DUI arrest.
Conviction of a serious qualifying offense such as DUI will result in a one-year disqualification of your CDL, meaning that you will not be able to drive commercially for an entire year. DUI is not the only serious qualifying offense. Other serious qualifying offenses include but are not limited to:
As with any DUI arrest in Florida, a DUI which occurs in a commercial vehicle also has 2-parts, both of which must be won to save a commercial driving privilege and a CDL. Most people are aware of the court case which will follow a DUI arrest, but there is also a civil license suspension process that must also be dealt with.
Further, although a non-commercial driver’s licensee has the option to waive the civil hearing and get a hardship license for the entire suspension, a CDL holder does not have this option. Yes, a CDL holder can choose to waive the Formal Review Hearing and get a hardship license, however, the hardship license is NOT VALID to drive a commercial vehicle, and more importantly, waiving the right to a formal review hearing and accepting the hardship license results in a suspension of the CDL.
If a driver of any vehicle refuses to take a requested, breath, blood or urine test, the officer will read an implied consent warning. However, this warning is modified for commercial driver’s licenses. If the officer reads the wrong implied consent warning, at least administratively, there is a chance to invalidate the suspension of the CDL in a Formal Review Hearing. A Commercial Driver’s License holder will be read the following implied consent warning:
I am now requesting that you submit to an approved test of your breath for the purpose of determining the alcoholic content of your breath urine or blood (whichever is appropriate)
Will you take the test? __YES __ NO
(If the answer is No, the following will be read)
If you fail to submit to the test I have requested of you, your privilege to operate a motor vehicle will be suspended for a period of one year for a first refusal, or a period of 18 months if your privilege has been previously suspended, or if you have previously been fined under §327.35215, F.S., as a result of a refusal to submit to a lawful test of the breath, urine or blood, required under Chapters 316 or 327, F.S.
Additionally, if you refuse to submit to the breath or urine test I have requested of you and if your driving privilege has been previously suspended, or you were previously been fined under §327.35215, F.S., for a prior refusal to submit to a lawful test of your breath, urine or blood, required under Chapters 316 or 327, F.S., you will be committing a first degree misdemeanor, in addition to any other penalties provided by law. Refusal to submit to the test I have requested of you is admissible into evidence in any criminal proceeding.
If the driver has a commercial driver’s license add the following:
Additionally, your refusal to submit to the test I have requested will result in the loss of your commercial driving privilege for a period of one year from today. If this is your SECOND REFUSAL, you will be permanently disqualified from operating a commercial motor vehicle.
In many cases we have seen, the final paragraph is not read to the driver. When this happens, the suspension of the commercial driver’s license should be invalidated at the administrative hearing held before the Bureau of Administrative Reviews.
Most people are familiar with the legal limit of .08 while driving. However, if you are driving a commercial motor vehicle, the legal limit is far, far lower. In fact, the legal limit for driving a commercial motor vehicle is half of that if driving a non-commercial vehicle. That means a test result of .04 or greater will result in an immediate suspension of a CDL. However, it is important to note that under Florida law, a commercial vehicle may not be driven by anyone who has ANY ALCOHOL WHATSOEVER in their system. A person driving a commercial motor vehicle with alcohol in their system is guilty of a moving violation and will immediately be taken out of service for a period of 24-hours.
Unfortunately, when a commercial driver’s license suspension is involved, there are fewer options to resolve a criminal DUI case. This is due to the Federal Anti-masking laws. Federal law considers many resolutions that are common in DUI cases as a conviction for the purpose of CDL disqualification. For instance, in Orange County and many other Florida counties, the State Attorney’s Office operates a DUI Diversion program. If a person who has been arrested for DUI is accepted into the DUI Diversion program and completes the program successfully the DUI charge against them is completely dropped. Although this result is typically a great outcome in a DUI case, accepting and completing a DUI Diversion program can have serious consequences for the CDL holder. Under Federal Law
“The State must not mask, defer imposition of judgment, or allow an individual to enter into a diversion program that would prevent a CLP or CDL holder’s conviction for any violation, in any type of motor vehicle, of a State or local traffic control law (other than parking, vehicle weight, or vehicle defect violations) from appearing on the CDLIS driver record, whether the driver was convicted for an offense committed in the State where the driver is licensed or another State.” § 384.226 C.F.R.
Therefore, if a CDL holder accepts a diversion program this will be reported and considered as a conviction against the CDL. Unless the state is willing to drop the charges a commercial driver’s license holder may have no choice but to go to trial on a DUI charge. That is why it is important to hire an attorney who understands the law pertaining to commercial driver’s licenses and DUI. Call Katz & Phillips today and we will guide you through the entire legal process and work toward getting you the best possible outcome.
Your livelihood depends on contacting a qualified and experienced Orlando DUI lawyer as soon as possible. Your problem won’t go away if you ignore it. You need to bring someone in on your case to begin defending you immediately. Don’t scroll through the internet and choose an attorney at random. You need someone who has successfully represented commercial drivers against DUI charges before.
The legal team at Katz & Phillips has the experience, the knowledge and dedication to do everything possible to help you keep or restore your driving privileges. Call our Board-Certified DUI Defense attorneys for a consultation. Your livelihood may depend on it.
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Contact the Law Offices of Katz & Phillips today to speak with one of our attorneys about your case today by filling out the form below, or call us at 321-332-6864.
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