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After a DUI arrest in Florida, you may be able to obtain a hardship license that allows limited driving for work, school, medical appointments, and certain other necessary purposes. Your eligibility and the steps you need to take depend on your driving record, why your license was suspended, and whether you challenge the administrative suspension.
One deadline is especially important: in many DUI cases, you have only 10 days from the date of arrest or notice of suspension to request administrative review.
What Is a Florida DUI Hardship License?
A hardship license is a restricted driver’s license that allows you to drive for approved purposes while your regular driving privileges are suspended or revoked.
Florida recognizes restrictions for “business purposes only” and “employment purposes only.” A business-purposes restriction can permit necessary driving to maintain your livelihood, including travel for work, education, church, and medical purposes. An employment-purposes restriction is narrower and generally permits driving to and from work and necessary on-the-job driving.
A hardship license does not restore unrestricted driving privileges. Driving for purposes outside the permitted ones can create additional problems.
What Happens to Your License Immediately After a DUI Arrest?
A DUI arrest can trigger an administrative driver’s license suspension separate from the criminal DUI case.
If you are arrested with an unlawful breath- or blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher, Florida law generally imposes a six-month administrative suspension for a first offense. A first refusal to submit to a lawful breath, blood, or urine test generally results in a one-year suspension.
When an officer takes your license, you may receive a 10-day temporary driving permit if you are otherwise eligible to drive. That short period gives you an opportunity to decide how to address the suspension.
How Do You Apply for a Hardship License After a DUI Arrest?
For an eligible first-time DUI offender, Florida provides a path to request restricted driving privileges without first challenging the administrative suspension.
You generally must enroll in the applicable DUI program and request an eligibility review through the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles’ Bureau of Administrative Reviews. FLHSMV identifies HSMV Form 72034 as the Request for Eligibility Review used when a driver wants to waive the administrative review hearing and seek immediate restricted-license eligibility.
If you qualify and choose this route, your driving privilege is generally restricted to business purposes for the remainder of the administrative suspension.
Eligibility is not automatic, however. Your driving history and prior DUI-related suspensions or convictions can affect whether this option is available.
Should You Waive Your Right to Challenge the DUI Suspension?
This is an important decision because requesting immediate restricted driving privileges can require you to give up something valuable: your right to challenge the administrative suspension.
Florida law allows a driver to request a formal or informal review of an administrative DUI suspension within 10 days. A formal review can involve evidence and witness testimony, while an informal review is based on documents and other submitted materials.
An eligible driver seeking immediate restricted privileges may instead waive that review. Florida law expressly provides that accepting reinstatement through this process constitutes a waiver of the right to formal or informal review.
For that reason, it is wise to speak with a Panama City DUI attorney before making the decision.
What Does DUI School Have to Do With a Hardship License?
DUI education is an important part of the process. Florida may require proof that you have enrolled in the applicable licensed DUI program before granting restricted driving privileges. Depending on the situation, evaluation and recommended treatment may also be required.
Failing to complete required education or treatment after restricted privileges are granted may result in license cancellation.
Requirements can also be different after a DUI conviction. Florida law generally requires completion of the DUI program and evaluations before limited driving privileges may be granted to someone whose license has been revoked because of a DUI conviction.
Can You Get a Hardship License After a Second or Third DUI?
Possibly, but the rules become considerably more restrictive when prior DUI convictions or refusals are involved.
Florida imposes waiting periods and additional conditions for certain repeat-DUI revocations. Depending on your record, you may have to serve part of the revocation before becoming eligible to seek restricted privileges. Some drivers may not qualify at all under a particular suspension or revocation.
Talk to a DUI Attorney About a Hardship License
Your criminal DUI case and your driver’s license suspension are related, but they are not the same proceeding. Waiting for your first court date can mean missing the deadline to address the administrative suspension.
If you have been arrested for DUI in Panama City or Bay County, let The Sombathy Law Firm review your eligibility for restricted driving privileges. Contact us as soon as possible after your arrest.
