DUI driver’s license penalties are always a concern for anyone facing a 1st offense drunk driving charge. One of the most common questions my team and I get asked is “what’s going to happen to my license?” That dovetails with an equally common statement people make when they say “I need to be able to drive for [work, school, kid’s school, medial appointments, etc.]. No matter what anyone may need, the DUI driver’s license penalties are set in stone. In this article, we’re going to look at what they are, and the ways we can navigate around them.
Let’s begin with the “set in stone” part of this. Under Michigan law, DUI driver’s license penalties are automatic and certain, upon conviction. “Certain,” in the sense we’re using it here, means 2 things: First, that they are unavoidable, and, second, that they are absolute. We’ll go through the different penalties for the various levels of 1st offense DUI’s later. For now, however, the reader simply needs to understand that these penalties must be imposed by the Michigan Secretary of State, and they cannot be modified in any way.
This is something that can be hard to fully comprehend. Not to make light of it, but I’d be rich if I had a nickel for every time someone was told the penalties can’t be modified, but then asked “is there any way to…?” In that same way, people often inquire about the possibility of modifying the DUI driver’s license penalties by asking “but what about…?” As we examine the various license penalties, the reader must understand that they are what they are. No matter what kind of hardship they may cause someone, the law specifically forbids any modification to them.