ROCKFORD DUI LAWYER

It is illegal in the state of Illinois to get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle if you are under the influence of alcohol or drugs. There are a number of consumption circumstances the state considers to be outside the acceptable limit for a person to have in their system and still be able to operate a vehicle on the road safely.  These include:

• Anything higher than a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08%
• Having a mixture of alcohol and other drugs in their system
• Any amount of controlled substance whether legal and prescribed or not in their system
• Having a THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) concentration in the system of 5ng in the blood or 10ng in a different bodily fluid (ie. urine)

If you are pulled over and charged with driving under the influence there are a number of consequences and penalties you could be facing depending on the specific circumstances of your situation such as your BAC, first-time offense vs multiple offender, your age, whether you have a minor in the vehicle with you, and more. An experienced DUI defense attorney will be able to go over the details of your case and make sure that due process was done correctly for you by the officers at the scene and make sure that your rights and interests are protected.

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The penalties for driving under the influence vary from case to case. A first-time offender is not treated the same as someone who has been charged with multiple DUIs, however there are some overlapping consequences no matter how many DUIs you have on your record. If you are arrested for a DUI you will be given a "statutory summary suspension" of your license until your court date. And if convicted, no matter whether a 1st, 2nd, 3rd, or more offense you will be required to have an alcohol/drug evaluation completed about your person. If it is determined that you suffer from a substance abuse problem, you will be required to complete a recommended treatment program, and to attend a victim impact panel to listen to victims of DUIs share their stories and discuss the consequences they have faced.

The criminal penalties for driving under the influence are different for the number of offenses a person has on their record and can also be impacted by whether your BAC was over 0.16%, or if you had a passenger under the age of 16 in the vehicle at the time of the offense. The other potential DUI penalties break down as follows:

• First-Offense: Up to 1 year in jail and 100 hours of community service,  possible $2,500 fine, 1 year suspension of your license
• Second-Offense: 2 days up to 1 year in jail, up to 480 hours of community service, possible $2,500 fine (can be up to $25,000 if a minor was in the vehicle), 5 year suspension of your license plus another 5 year restricted driving permit (RDP) after the suspension that can only be used to drive to work, school, or medical/treatment appointments, and an ignition interlock device (IID) installed on your vehicle for five years
• Third-Offense: 10 days up to 7 years in jail, possible $25,000 fine, 10 year suspension of your license plus another 5 year restricted driving permit (RDP) after the suspension that can only be used to drive to work, school, or medical/treatment appointments, and an ignition interlock device (IID) installed on your vehicle for five years

Typically a DUI charge will be a misdemeanor although there are some circumstances where the charges could be increased to a felony. The list of situations where you would be likely to face felony charges includes:

1. If this is an individual's third or subsequent DUI offense (out of state DUIs generally count);
2. The individual was driving a school bus with one or more passengers on board;
3. The individual was involved in a motor vehicle accident while committing a DUI and the accident resulted in great bodily harm, permanent disability or disfigurement to another (the DUI must be a proximate cause of the injuries);
4. The individual was committing a DUI and had previously been convicted in Illinois of reckless homicide wherein it had to be established that he or she was under the influence, or the individual has previously been convicted of a DUI resulting in great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement to another. You can also be charged with this offense if the similar offense was committed in another state;
5. The individual was committing a DUI in a school speed zone (regardless of whether he or she was within the speed limit) when that speed zone was in effect, and was involved in an accident resulting in great bodily harm, permanent disability, or disfigurement to another person, when the DUI was a proximate cause of the accident;
6. The individual was committing  a DUI and was involved in a motor vehicle, snowmobile, ATV, or watercraft accident that resulted in the death of someone else, and  the DUI was a proximate cause of the death;
7. The individual’s driver’s license was suspended or revoked for DUI, a similar statute, or reckless homicide;
8. The individual committed  a DUI  without possession of a driver’s license, permit, restricted  driver’s permit, judicial driving permit, or a monitoring device driving permit;
9. The individual committed  the DUI when he or she should have known the vehicle was not covered by liability insurance;
10. The individual committed the DUI and was involved in an accident that resulted in bodily harm to a child under 16 years old who the individual was transporting, and the DUI was a proximate  cause of the injury;
11. The individual committed a second time DUI while transporting a child under 16 years old; 
12. The individual committed the DUI while transporting one or more passengers in a vehicle for-hire.

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