Connecticut drivers license suspension laws

Teen drivers wishing to apply for a learner permit in the State of Connecticut must wait until they are 16 years of age. If the teen driver has held the learner permit in good standing without suspensions or offenses for days the teen may apply for a Connecticut Driver License. Read about the specifics of the law and the costs of a cellphone or texting ticket. This article gives an overview of what the law prohibits and some specific consequences of a stop sign or red light violation.

Connecticut: Passengers and Pets in Pickup Trucks. What is the law in Connecticut regarding passengers in your pickup cargo bed? Connecticut is one of a majority of states that has restrictions on passengers in the cargo bed of a pickup truck. For the most part, these laws are intended to protect younger passengers. What does it mean to drive without a license in Connecticut? Driving without a license can refer to three scenarios: driving without a valid license, driving without your license in your possession, and driving on a suspended or revoked license.

In such cases, the police officer, acting on behalf of the DMV commissioner, must revoke the driver's license for 24 hours and submit a report to the DMV. The report must include any test results and the grounds the officer had for making the arrest. A different procedure applies when someone gives a blood or urine sample at a police officer's request because these require a laboratory analysis.

In this case, the officer cannot immediately take possession of the person's license or follow the other procedural requirements of the per se law. The process followed once the commissioner receives the police report depends on the driver's circumstances. As long as the driver either has not 1 previously been suspended for a DUI conviction within the 10 years preceding the current arrest or 2 been involved in a fatal accident, the commissioner may suspend his or her.

In the case of someone with a prior DUI license suspension or who has been involved in a fatal accident, the commissioner may suspend his or her license or operating privilege on any date specified in the suspension notice.

In either case, the driver is entitled to a DMV hearing. In the first case neither fatal accident involvement or prior DUI suspension , this must occur before the suspension goes into effect, provided the person contacts DMV no later than seven days after DMV mails the suspension notice.

In the latter case fatal accident involvement or prior DUI suspension , the hearing can occur after the suspension, but not more than 30 days after the person contacts DMV to schedule a hearing. He or she must request the hearing no later than seven days after DMV mails the suspension notice. In either case, the issues at the hearing are limited to whether: 1 the police officer had probable cause to make the arrest, 2 the driver was arrested, 3 he or she was driving, and 4 he or she refused the test or had an elevated BAC.

In the case of test results obtained from a blood sample taken from an apparently injured driver, the hearing must additionally determine whether the sample was obtained according to the statutory conditions for admissibility and competence as evidence, as described above. If the answer to any of the four questions is no, DMV must return the license to the driver. If the answer to all of the questions is yes, DMV must suspend the driver's license for 45 days, followed by mandatory IID use for the periods specified in Table 5.

To get his or her licensed restored, the driver must install and maintain an IID on each motor vehicle he or she owns or operates, and cannot operate a vehicle without an IID for the periods specified in Table 5. The test refusal penalties also apply to someone who takes the initial test but refuses to take a second chemical test. These provisions do not apply to someone whose condition makes such tests medically inadvisable. Per Se Violation. First Suspension. Second Suspension. Third or Subsequent Suspension.

Under Age 21 : BAC of. Test refusal, regardless of age. The applicant also must make certain affirmations under oath before the court, including that he or she has not had the program previously invoked on his or her behalf within the preceding 10 years.

The court must seal the file when the offender applies for the program. The court can grant the application after considering the recommendations of the prosecutor in charge of the case. Upon confirmation of eligibility, the person is referred to DMHAS for placement in either an appropriate alcohol intervention program for one year, or a state-licensed substance abuse treatment program.

The court may require, as a condition of granting the application, that the offender take part in a CSSD-approved victim impact panel program. The court must dismiss the charges if the defendant satisfactorily completes the assigned program and he or she requests dismissal. The offender's license suspension remains in effect while he or she participates in the program, although he or she can wait to begin the program until the suspension ends.

Program Reinstatement. The law allows reinstatement to the program in certain cases. If a program provider informs the court that a defendant did not successfully complete the assigned program or is no longer amenable to treatment, the provider must, to the extent practicable, recommend whether the individual would best be served by 1 a session intervention program, 2 a session intervention program, or 3 placement in a state-licensed substance abuse treatment program. Among the laws the legislature adopted in were two public acts affecting eligibility of certain people charged with DUI and other crimes for court programs that could lead to dismissal of the charges.

Dismissal of Certain Charges for People under Age PA allows a defendant or prosecutor to ask the court to allow eligible defendants under age 21 charged with certain crimes or motor vehicle violations to take part in a program that can result in dismissal of the charges. The act explicitly prohibits people charged with DUI from participating.

The law allows a court to suspend prosecution of, and instead order treatment for, certain people charged with a crime and found to be alcohol or drug dependent. PA prohibits a court from suspending prosecution and ordering treatment for people who are alcohol or drug dependent if they were driving a commercial motor vehicle or held a CDL or commercial driver ' s instruction permit when the driver was charged with 1 DUI, 2 DUI under age 21, 3 2 nd degree assault with motor vehicle or 4 2 nd degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle.

The offense carries a day mandatory prison sentence unless the court specifies mitigating circumstances. The judge must specify the mitigating circumstances, or lack of them, in writing. The chief medical examiner and other specified officials must include in any investigation of a fatal motor vehicle accident a blood sample from any driver or pedestrian who dies in the accident.

These samples must be examined for the presence and concentration of alcohol and drugs by the chief medical examiner or the DESPP Division of Scientific Services. A blood or breath sample must be obtained from any surviving driver whose vehicle is involved in an accident. Since the law requires the sample to be tested for drugs as well as alcohol, and breath samples cannot provide reliable evidence of the presence of drugs, the law, in effect, appears to require blood samples from surviving operators.

The testing of any such samples must be performed at the direction of a police officer according to methods and using equipment approved by DESPP. Test equipment must be checked immediately before and after the test by someone who is DESPP-certified.

If a blood test is performed, the sample must be taken by a physician, a qualified laboratory technician, a registered nurse, a physician assistant, or a phlebotomist. By law, anyone who has had a driver's license suspended, except in certain instances, may apply for a special operator permit that allows him or her to drive for certain work, education, or medical purposes.

If someone holding a CDL required to drive buses, large trucks, and trucks carrying hazardous materials is convicted of DUI while driving a commercial or other vehicle, or found to have either refused to submit to a BAC test or taken and failed the test, he or she is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for one year.

The disqualification applies for 1 any BAC test refusal, regardless of the type of motor vehicle he or she was driving; 2 a BAC result of. The disqualification periods apply to convictions in another state if the commissioner believes the offenses in those states are similar to those under Connecticut's DUI or administrative per se and implied consent law. CDL holders who commit two or more of certain offenses, including DUI , are disqualified for life from driving a commercial motor vehicle.

But most CDL holders disqualified for life may apply for reinstatement after 10 years. A person commits the crime of 2 nd degree manslaughter with a motor vehicle when, while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or any drug, he or she causes the death of another person as a consequence of the effect of the alcohol or drugs.

The operator's driver's license is suspended for one year and he or she can only operate vehicles equipped with an ignition interlock device for two years after completing the suspension period. A person commits the crime of 2 nd degree assault with a motor vehicle, when, while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he or she causes serious physical injury to another person as a consequence of the effect of alcohol or drugs.

Prison Sentence. Third and Subsequent. Illegal possession of alcohol by minor in any other public or private location. Failure to make required child support payments. Using a motor vehicle or vessel without the owner ' s permission: interfering or tampering with a motor vehicle.

Manslaughter in the 2 nd degree with a motor vehicle. Assault in the 2 nd degree with a motor vehicle. It is illegal for someone to operate a motor vehicle 1 without having a driver ' s license or in violation of the terms, classification, or conditions of licensure: or 2 when the driver ' s license or privilege to operate in Connecticut if a nonresident has been suspended or revoked.

The penalties for driving while under license suspension or revocation are graduated based on prior offenses. There is also an enhanced penalty that applies if the basis for the suspension or revocation was for an alcohol-related offense. In addition to these penalties, if someone has previously either driven while under license suspension or without a license or in violation of license terms an additional penalty applies.

If someone has violated either of these laws at least twice before, or both at least once before, he must be sentenced to up to one year in prison, 90 days of which cannot be suspended or reduced.

Thus for purposes of assessing this additional penalty, unlicensed operation and operation while under suspension are viewed interchangeably. This is because there have been instances where someone whose license has been suspended has chosen to drive without reinstating the license even though the suspension has expired.

A higher penalty applies if someone is caught driving while under license suspension and the reason for the suspension was an alcohol-related driving offense. In the last two cases, the elements of the crime include causing the death or serious physical injury of another while operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs when this death or injury is found to have been a consequence of the effect of the alcohol or drug.

Table 2 shows the number of cases involving violations of CGS Sec. The data comes from the Judicial Department ' s case database as provided to the Office of Fiscal Analysis. In the table, the column indicating the number of convictions shows the aggregate of several categories including jury conviction, conviction by a judge ' s decision, pleas, and bond forfeiture.

The number of cases is also an aggregation of offenses that are coded in several ways in the database. The data indicates that in more than two-thirds of the first offense cases, the charge is nolled ranging from Over the five years, the average number of first offense cases reaching the Judicial Department was 27, There were about cases per year over the last three years involving repeat offenders and an average of 1, cases involving drivers whose suspension was for an alcohol-related offense.

Table 2: Cases and Case Dispositions for Violations of. First Offenders. Failure to Appear for Trial. Alcohol-Related Suspension Offenders. Statute Offense Driver ' s License Suspension Period Fleeing or evading police or roadblock 1 st violation—1 year Subsequent—18 months a Evading responsibility hit and run following involvement in accident that results in fatality or serious injury 1 st violation—1 year Subsequent—2 years b Evading responsibility hit and run following involvement in accident resulting in non-serious physical injury or property damage 90 days c Racing a motor vehicle on a public road 1 st violation—30 days Subsequent—90 days a g Operating a motor vehicle under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or both or with an blood-alcohol level of.

If reinstated after six years, must operate with an ignition interlock device for the period remaining until 10 years have passed from the original revocation b Under age 21 Implied consent to test—administrative per se violation Test Refusal 1 st violation—1 year 2 nd violation—2 years 3 rd violation—6 years BAC. Indefinite period. Reckless Driving. Test Refusal 1 st violation—1 year 2 nd violation—2 years 3 rd violation—6 years BAC.