When can I start driving again after a DUI?

A common question that a client asks us, who is charged with a DUI, is when can I start driving again?

What happens when you are arrested for impaired driving is the police is going to give you a ninety day administrative licence suspension right off the bat. So that’s going to happen the day that you are charged and arrested. So you cannot drive for ninety days.

You are going to be given a court date. That court date is going to be typically from three to six weeks down the road. Now what’s going to happen if you hire a lawyer, is the lawyer is going to get a hold of your disclosure and figure out, a) is this case winnable, should we set it for trial ? or b) should we resolve it and try to get the best deal possible.

So let’s pretend you decide to set it for trial. What’s going to happen is that your ninety day suspension is going to end after ninety days obviously, and your trial is going to be anywhere from eight to twelve to fifteen months down the road. So at the end of the ninety days, you are going to be able to go to the MTO, the Ministry of Transportation and get your licence back, pay a penalty if you will, to get your license back, and you are going to be able to drive right up to your trial date which is going to be months and months down the road. So that’s one of the benefits of setting your matter for trial. Of course, if you win your trial, then you are free to go and keep driving. If you lose your trial, then of course, you are facing penalties which I described in another video in terms of the length of the driving suspension.

Now, another situation is where you decide to plead guilty, so let’s just say that you decide to plead guilty shortly after your first appearance, so say five weeks in. What happens then is that your ninety day administrative licence suspension stops and the judge is likely going to sentence you to one-year minimum driving prohibition. But most judges through negotiation with the crown are going to allow you to apply for Stream A ignition interlock, that means then is that you are going to lose your licence for a year, but you are going to apply to the MTO to get your licence back. You can drive with the ignition interlock on, that’s a device you blow into. So your ninety day stops, a one-year suspension starts, through the judge, but after three months from the date you plead guilty, you can put an interlock device in your car, which you are going to have in your car for nine months.

So that’s the short answer of how quickly I could start driving and after you are charged with a DUI.