Hardship License - When Do You Need It
Being arrested for drunk driving can have an immediate effect on the quality of your life. Even if there was no bodily harm or property damage, the simple fact of being arrested for driving while intoxicated can often jeopardize your ability to drive at all. The MVDs (Motor Vehicle Departments) of most states will often suspend or revoke your driver's license for DUI. Considering how dependent most of us are on automobile transportation, not being able to drive can cost you your job, and create serious problems if someone is ill.
Generally your license can be suspended or revoked before you are convicted if you refused a sobriety test or fail the test. Obviously, this will seriously impact your ability to go to work, get groceries, visit the doctor, etc. It is possible, however, to get a hardship license. As a revoked license is considered to denote a more serious condition than a suspended license, you may only be able to get a work permit. This will only allow you to go to work and back home again, you will not be able to use your automobile for any other reason.
If your license has only been suspended, which often means that this is your first DUI offense and you may well be able to apply for a restricted or hardship license. The conditions that will need to be met to get this license will differ from state to state, but generally a hardship license will allow you not only to go to work, but to operate your vehicle during certain hours of the day. This will allow you to go to the grocery store, dentist, doctor, or run other errands. Most states offer a program that will allow someone with a DUI arrest and suspended or revoked license to get some kind of hardship license, but there are several states that do not.
A first DUI arrest will nearly always be dealt with more leniently as long as there has not been bodily harm or serious property damage. It will definitely be easier to acquire a hardship license with a first DUI. However, if you have been arrested more than once, it is extremely unlikely that you will be able to obtain the same driving license under any circumstances. You will be looked upon as a repeat offender. Often times, those who have been arrested two or three times for DUI will have their license revoked for a period of up to 10 years. If it is the case of 4th DUI hardship license, your license may get permanently revoked by your local DMV. You won't be eligible for a hardship license with no choice of reinstatement option. You should realize, however, that once a certain period of time has elapsed with no further DUI offenses, your record will considered to be clean.
Hiring a lawyer not only to represent you after a DUI arrest but to handle getting a hardship license will often make it easier to get one. As your license can be suspended for anywhere from 30 days to 3 years, depending on the state in which you live, it is in your best interest to apply, either yourself or through your lawyer, for your hardship license as soon as possible.
Check out Ohio DUI laws and its own regulations
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