Driver's License Suspension in Illinois

 Posted on December 00,0000 in Driver's License Suspension

In Illinois, your driver’s license can be suspended for many different traffic violations. The length of driver’s license suspension can depend upon your age as well as the specific offense. Losing your driver’s license—even temporarily—can be a frustrating and costly experience. Indeed, many members of the Muslim community in DuPage County rely on their vehicles for transportation to work. Given that it can be a long commute into downtown Chicago, for instance, we understand how important it is to have your license reinstated quickly.

Reasons a Driver’s License Can Be Suspended

Depending on the type of traffic violation committed, you can lose your driver’s license for a temporary period of time (which we call a “suspension” of your driving privileges), or it can be revoked (meaning that you may never be able to get your driving privileges back). According to the website for the Illinois Secretary of State, the situations through which a driver’s license can be suspended vary greatly. One of the primary reasons for which a license can be suspended is driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI). The following are some facts concerning DUI-related license suspension:

• If you are aged 21 or over and are caught driving with a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.08 percent or more, your driver’s license can be suspended;
• Illinois has a “Use It & Lose It Zero Tolerance Law” in place, which requires a summary suspension. According to a DUI law publication from the Secretary of State, a “statutory summary suspension provides for the automatic suspension of driving privileges of a driver arrested for DUI who fails, refuses to submit to, or fails to complete chemical testing;”
• Depending upon whether it is a first offense or a subsequent offense, the license can be suspended for varying amounts of time. A first offense for failing chemical testing comes with the suspension of driving privileges for six months. A second or subsequent offense results in the suspension of a driver’s license for one year; and
• If you are under the age of 21 and found with any alcohol at all in your system, you will be subject to a statutory summary suspension.

In addition to DUI charges, driving privileges can be suspended for a number of other reasons, including but not limited to:

• Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) restrictions: if you are a young driver and are convicted of one of many moving violations or other serious offenses, you can lose your driver’s license;
• Failure to appear: if you fail to appear in court for a traffic citation and you have not satisfied the terms of the violation, then you can be subject to a “Failure to Appear Suspension” of your driving privileges;
• Unpaid parking tickets: if you have 10 or more parking violations that you do not pay, you can have a “Parking Suspension” entered against your driver’s license, and your driving privileges can be suspended;
• Unpaid traffic violations and fine: similar to the failure to pay parking tickets, if you receive traffic violations or other fines and do not pay them, your driver’s license may be suspended; and
• Failure to pay child support: if you owe child support and do not pay, the Family Financial Responsibility Law allows for the suspension of driving privileges.

At Farooqi & Husain Law Office, we have been assisting clients in the DuPage County Muslim community for years. Our experienced Oakbrook Terrace traffic violations lawyers have experience handling a variety of traffic offense cases, and we can discuss your options with you today for having your driver’s license reinstated. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help.

Sources:

https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/drivers/losepriv.html

https://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/publications/pdf_publications/dsd_a118.pdf

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/95/PDF/095-0310.pdf

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=062500050HCh.+7+Art.+VII&ActID=1815&ChapterID=49&SeqStart=104300000&SeqEnd=105800000