There is no special license. There used to be a business vehicle exception for ignition interlock devices, so that you have to have an ignition interlock device in your civilian vehicle but if you were driving a business vehicle, it was not required. Too many people took advantage of that and declared their civilian vehicle as their business vehicle. Maybe they started a business and then claimed that it was a business vehicle, so legislature did away with that a couple of years back. Now technically, even if you are a truck driver, hopefully your employer is okay with you installing an ignition interlock device on your eighteen wheeler, otherwise there is no exception. You must have an ignition interlock device on any vehicle you operate including the commercial vehicle.
Are People Charged With Aggravated DUI Supposed To Serve Additional Requirements Along With The Ignition Interlock Device?
A first-time super extreme requires eighteen months of ignition interlock device. A second-time super extreme requires two years of ignition interlock device and any felony DUI, which is aggravated DUI, requires two years of ignition interlock device. It is more time than a first-time regular or actually a first- or a second-time regular or a first- or second-time extreme.
Can Early Removal Of Ignition Interlock Device Be Petitioned?
It is actually not a petition. It is simply that if the person is convicted of a first-time regular alcohol DUI, they are required to have one-year of ignition interlock device. However, that can be reduced down to six months if they do the first six months correctly. Because they are going in to their ignition interlock device provider and maintaining the ignition interlock device monthly, at the six-month mark, if the ignition interlock device provider has let the Motor Vehicle Division know that the person was doing everything that they were supposed to do, then they are going to let the Motor Vehicle Division know that, “It’s been six months. The person has done everything that they are supposed to do”.
The Motor Vehicle Division will send out a letter saying, “You have done everything you are supposed to do. You can now take your ignition interlock device off”. It is not anything that needs to be petitioned or requested, it is not an application, it should just be automatic. One thing that came up in one of my cases was that, technically, on a first-time regular DUI, being able to get the ignition interlock device off early for successfully completing the first six months, there is a provision in the law that if during that second six-months where you would not have the ignition interlock device but you were able to get it off early, if you end up getting charged with a DUI, you then have to put the ignition interlock device back on for another six months.
So, it is not really six months deleted, its more six months suspended as long as you do not get another arrest for a DUI within those six months.
Can Ignition Interlock Device Issues Be Difficult to Resolve In Court?
They can be. That is more on the civil side and so if there was an issue with the person’s ignition interlock device, either between them and the ignition interlock device company and the Motor Vehicle Division, I am not sure if an attorney would be a good value to hire. Hiring an attorney to try and assist in that type of matter that is not the type of attorney that I am. I just handle the DUI cases, criminal aspects of the DUI cases themselves, I do not handle the civil aspects with the Motor Vehicle Division or the ignition interlock device companies.
Advice For People Contemplating A Guilty Plea
I never recommend that people just go in there and say, “All right, I am guilty. Let me just take care of it”. A much greater chance that they are going to be taken advantage of, they are not going to know how to say certain things and not going to know how to apply certain laws. Very likely the person will be taken advantage of by the court or by the prosecutor. They will very likely end up with a much harsher sentence or the wrong sentence and so that is why it is so important, at the very least, to go with a public defender. If you cannot afford a private attorney, at least go with a public defender. Do not represent yourself. If you can afford a private attorney, I would much rather you go with a private attorney.
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