The 10 day rule at Administrative Per Se/DUI DMV Hearings

You Only Have 10 CALENDAR Days To Contact The DMV To Initiate Your Defense.

Contact Our Team Immediately To Initiate Your Defense.

What is the 10-Day Rule in an Administrative Per Se Hearing?

 Whenever a driver is arrested for DUI in the State of California, they must deal with two separate issues:

• The driver will be facing a criminal allegation filed in a criminal court.
• The driver will be facing the administrative suspension or revocation of their driving privilege by the California Department of Motor Vehicles.

When a driver is arrested for DUI, their driver license is immediately seized by the arresting law enforcement officer in what is referred to as a “Stop and Snatch.” The California Administrative Per Se Law was enacted in 1990 and directs law enforcement officers to seize and suspend a person’s driver license if they suspect that person of driving with a blood alcohol content of .08% or greater. At the time of arrest, the law enforcement officer is further directed to serve the driver with a “Notice of Suspension” by issuing a DMV Form DS-367. Usually, this pink-colored form is provided to a driver at the time they are released from police custody. The language used in the DS-367 is confusing a vague. Essentially, there are three critical pieces of information provided on the DS-367:

• The driver is advised that the DMV is working to suspend or revoke their driver license.
• Provided their driver license was valid at the time of arrest, the driver is advised that they may continue to drive on a “temporary” basis for 30 days.
• The driver is told they have a right to contest the suspension of their driver license, and if they wish to do so, must contact the DMV within 10-days to schedule an Administrative Per Se Hearing.

Obeying the 10-Day Rule with the DMV is the most critical “first step” in fighting for the restoration of your driving privilege. The DMV does not like conducting Administrative Per Se (APS) Hearings and will find any excuse possible to deny you the right to protect yourself. They employ a variety of sneaky tricks to cheat you out of your right to a hearing. One of the most common reasons for the DMV denying a person’s request for an APS Hearing is because the driver fails to make their initial contact with the DMV within the first 10-days following their arrest.

As far as the DMV is concerned, the 10-Day Rule is cast in stone. Violating the 10-Day Rule gives the DMV just the cause they need to deny you an APS Hearing. Don’t let the DMV steal your driver license without a fight. Don’t let them deny you an APS Hearing simply because you missed the 10-Day Window. Contact CDA today. We’re ready to begin fighting for you now. We’ll make the contact with the DMV and make sure it is done correctly.

What Happens if I Miss the 10-Day Window With the DMV?

If a driver who was arrested for DUI fails to contact the DMV within the first 10-Calendar Days following their arrest to request an Administrative Per Se (APS) Hearing, the California Vehicle Code (CVC) permits the DMV to deny that person a hearing.

CVC section 14103 reads in part, …..Failure to respond to a notice given under this Chapter within 10 days is a waiver of the right to a hearing……

So, with the DMV seeking every opportunity to avoid conducting an APS Hearing, the failure of a driver to make timely contact to request a hearing gives them just the ammo they need to strip you of your driver license. Don’t let this happen. Fight, fight, fight. If you have missed the 10-day window with the DMV, then your driver license will automatically lapse into a state of suspension or revocation 30 days after your arrest.

In some instances, there may be a good explanation for why a person could not contact the DMV within 10-days. In some cases, drivers are incapacitated by injury or are in police custody making them physically incapable of making the appropriate contact. We have seen many cases where the arresting law enforcement officer fails to issue the pink-colored DS-367 and the driver doesn’t even learn about the 10-day rule until after the time has lapsed. Most disturbingly, we have seen cases where drivers do, in fact, contact the DMV within the required 10-days only to be told that scheduling an APS Hearing is pointless or that a hearing cannot be scheduled until after the court case ends. These are blatant examples of DMV employees intentionally robbing people of Due Process.

Here is the bottom line. If you have been arrested for DUI in the State of California, you must fight with the DMV to prevent the suspension or revocation of your driving privilege. If you fail to contact the DMV within the required 10-day window, you’ve given the DMV exactly what they need to deny you Due Process.

Don’t let this happen…………… Don’t be dissuaded. Call CDA today. We have been beating the DMV at their own game for many years. The DMV will not dissuade us from scheduling your hearing and we properly document all of our contact with the Department so there is never any question about our timely request for an APS Hearing.[/fusion_tab]

How Do I Comply With the 10-Day Window at the DMV?

The simple answer is that proper contact must be made with the DMV’s Office of Driver Safety within the first 10-Calendar days following your arrest. Remember 10-Calendar days………..Not 10-weekdays.

Proper contact can be made by telephone, facsimile transmission, US Mail, or in-person. At CDA we never trust the DMV to do the right thing so we always employ at least two of the above methods of contact for each client. Remember document, document, and document. You must be able to prove timely contact in the event the DMV claims you did not contact them.

 Also, simply contacting the DMV is not enough to properly enter the DMV process. Consideration must be given to which Driver Safety Office to contact. Some effort must be made to have your cased assigned to one of the “good” hearing officers. Also, the driver must request a “Stay of Suspension” and a make a “Request for Discovery.”While contacting the DMV may sound like a simple task, there are several pieces that must be put into play to properly set you up for a winnable APS Hearing.

 Don’t attempt this contact on your own. While you certainly have the right to make your own contact, your odds of victory are much greater if you are represented by a DMV Expert from the beginning. Over many years, CDA has developed appropriate, professional, relationships with staff members at the various Driver Safety Offices. This benefits our clients by our ability to be assigned to quality hearing officers with little or no resistance.

Call CDA Today So We Can Protect Your 10-Window with the DMV

 The DMV Experts at California Drivers Advocates represent hundreds of drivers each year throughout the State. We make contact with the Office of Driver Safety every-single day. We know precisely how to protect your 10-Day Window with the DMV and therefore, secure your right to an APS Hearing.

 If protecting your driving privilege is critical to your future, don’t forfeit your right to an APS Hearing by violating the 10-Day Rule with the DMV. If you do, you’re just allowing the DMV to steal your license without a fight. Don’t let that happen.  Call us now……………. We’re ready to contact the DMV immediately.