Dealing with the Stress of Not Having a License

License Confiscated by Police
What Is Implied Consent?
How to Get Your License Back

License Confiscated by Police

In Michigan, the law provides that when you are arrested for drunk driving your plastic license is destroyed by the arresting officer.  He or she then provides you with a paper license. Although you can still drive normally on this paper license, also called a DI-177, not having photo ID typically causes a great deal of frustration for my clients.  This is because most people’s primary source of identification is their driver’s license.

Without this identification it can be difficult to do simply everyday things like cash checks, fly on a commercial airline, use a credit card or withdraw money from your bank account. Consequently, trying to resolve this issue and getting you a photo ID can go a long way to reducing your stress.

What Is Implied Consent?

If you refused to take a chemical test, then you are probably charged with an implied consent refusal as well. If this is true, then you MUST make a demand for hearing within 14 days of your arrest. You will know this because in the upper left hand corner of your paper license it will say “DI-93” rather than “DI-177.

After you or your lawyer have sent in your request for an implied consent hearing with the Driver’s License Appeal Division (DAAD), your driver’s license rights and privileges will be whatever they were prior to your arrest.   You should know that your license will not be suspended unless and until the hearing officer finds in favor of the arresting officer at the hearing. If you win the hearing, then there will be no driver’s license sanctions imposed. However, if you lose the hearing, then your driver’s license will be suspended for a period of as many as two years depending on the circumstances.

How to Get Your License Back

One final thing you should understand about driver license sanctions in general is that they are not imposed by the court and they are not “individualized”. What this means is that the same sanctions are imposed for everyone.  They are imposed by the Secretary of State who does not care about your status in the community, your marital status or employment status.

All driver license sanctions have been standardized and therefore apply to everyone equally. Consequently, your attorney should be able to tell you exactly what the Michigan driver license sanction(s) will be, and how they will apply to you.

There is no doubt that a driver’s license is critical in Michigan.  A good DUI lawyer can help you understand your options and whenever possible, help you get back on the road, thereby significantly lessening the amount of stress you are now facing.