Watch Out! You May Have Less Than 10 Days To Fight Losing Your Driver's License

Hire a North Carolina DUI Lawyer who understands North Carolina DUI law

Driving Under Influence (DUI) is a serious crime in North Carolina that is also known as Driving While Impaired (DWI); this crime has serious consequences and penalties involving heavy fines, jail time, loss of driving privileges etc. A DUI of a serious kind that is a DUI felony can mean that your freedom, rights, future and career can be in jeopardy therefore, in such a case you need to proceed very carefully. You need to be aware of all there is to know about DUI in North Carolina, it's law and penalties associated with each type of DUI. This kind of information and help can be provided to you by a North Carolina DUI lawyer. Although, you can get the basic information about DUI in North Carolina here at MyDUIAttorney but since each DUI case has different facts and can be treated very differently in court, therefore, we strongly advise you to consult a qualified DUI lawyer immediately after your arrest. Also, if you have a previous DUI record in North Carolina or anywhere else, then you must not, in any circumstances, consider representing yourself in court and hire a reliable, experienced and informative attorney to represent you.

In North Carolina, a person can face five different levels of punishment depending upon the facts of their case and the aggravating factors involved in their case.

LEVEL 1: This is the most severe case of DUI and involves fines of up to $4000, jail confinement of 30 days and maximum of two years. You can also face probation after the initial 30 days.

LEVEL 2: This level of punishment involves fines up to $2000, jail confinement of at least a week but not more than one year. You can also face probation after the initial confinement of seven days.

LEVEL 3: This level also involves fines up to $1000, jail confinement of three days minimum and maximum of six months, court may allow you to serve the three day sentence in jail as community service instead.

LEVEL 4: Fines are up to $500, jail confinement is for a minimum two days and maximum of four months. Once again, the court can allow you to serve the two day jail confinement as community service instead.

LEVEL 5: This is the least severe kind of punishment and it involves fines up to $200, jail confinement of one day but not more than two months. The court can allow you to serve one day in jail sentence as community service instead.

Aggravating factors in a DUI case can either be that the driver was driving while impaired and had a child under 16 in the car at the time, the driver caused serious bodily harm to another person while impaired, the driving was driving with a license that had been revoked or that the driver had been convicted of impaired driving during the last seven years.

Other aggravating factors include having a Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.15 or more, driving in a dangerous manner, driving that led to an accident, two previous convictions for driving offenses, evading arrest, evading by more than 30 miles per hour or driving past a stopped school bus illegally. Apart from this, the court can consider other aggravating factors and sentence you accordingly.

License suspensions in North Carolina for DUI happen because the driver had a Blood Alcohol Content of 0.08; also if the driver refuses to take the test, their license will be suspended. After six months or a one year suspension, the driver can apply for driving privileges to limited extent provided that the driver had not refused a chemical test, the driver had not caused any injury or death, the driver has not committed any other offense relating to driving, and has applied to all terms of probation. The court can also require you to install an ignition interlock device in your vehicle; this device only allows you to drive after you take a breath test and it shows minimal alcohol. This device takes breath tests regularly and it is required if the driver had a BAC of 0.15 or higher at the time of arrest. The device is required for one year after the date of restoration, for three years if the suspension was for four years and for seven years if the suspension for a longer time period than that.

To fully understand the penalties associated with a North Carolina DUI charge, it is strongly recommended that you consult with a North Carolina DUI lawyer that you are most comfortable with and who can knowledgeably represent you throughout your trial and court proceedings.  You can find a North Carolina drunk driving attorney by typing in the city of your arrest above or call our 24 hour DUI hotline

Additional resources