Annapolis Commercial Driver’s License DUI Penalties

Commercial driver’s license holders are held to a higher standard in courts. Someone with a commercial driver’s license is a professional driver, who drives for a living and should be considered an expert in driving. Complexities arise when these drivers are charged with DUI offenses, and because of the serious penalties for a DUI for a commercial driver’s license holder in Annapolis, they should consider getting the help of an experienced CDL DUI attorney who can help their DUI case immediately.

Penalties on Employment

Various complexities can arise with a commercial driver’s DUI offense, and when presenting a defense in court, they take all of that into consideration and weigh it against the fact that the person is someone who should know better. They go through specialized courses and training to operate a vehicle—especially depending on the size of the vehicle, that can be taken into consideration by the judge as well.

Commercial driving is a high liability and a high-risk game. They are transporting goods and services that are being provided to national companies, and they are transporting vehicles, refrigerated goods, or hazardous material. A person is already a liability on the road if they are not controlling their vehicle. If the person is under the influence and having problems controlling their vehicle, they are an even higher liability. Employers will not rehire that person.

Those individuals should be resigned to the fact that they probably will never drive commercially again. CDL drivers cannot have higher than 0.2 BAC in their system while operating a commercial vehicle, so as they are driving under the commercial license in that commercial vehicle, they cannot consume a drink.

Restricted License for CDL DUI

Another DUI penalty for someone with a commercial driver’s license in Annapolis is the lack of a restricted license. There is no restriction on their license. The motor vehicles administration will simply take the license from them. If the person’s BAC was below 0.15, and if they are given the ability to continue to drive, it will be on a regular driver’s license. That person’s commercial license is done and they have to turn it in or sign it over.

Long-Term Implications

There are various long-term penalties for someone with a commercial driver’s license DUI in Annapolis, such as being labeled a liability, a public safety risk, and then losing the ability to drive even for a year. An individual is not going to find a lot of employers willing to take an immediate risk on them a year later.

A person may have to wait some time before they are even eligible to get an employer to consider hiring them because their insurance could go up. The adverse effect on insurance can hurt the person’s ability to get any other employment when employers are trying to save money and maximize their profit or maximize what they can pay them and not have to worry about who they put on the road and the products that they deliver.

If a person has a subsequent offense, they are not going to get a job commercially. A person can drive a local courier, but they are not going to be able to drive any commercial chain.