Commercial Driver’s Licenses
If you drive for a living, chances are you face heavy scrutiny on an almost daily basis. California law goes to great lengths to keep roads and highways safe by placing tough restrictions and limits on commercial drivers. Whether you are a trucker, a school bus driver or even drive a hotel shuttle van, your livelihood depends on your ability to drive. With commercial driver’s licenses, getting a ticket can not only be costly in the short term with fines and legal fees, but over the long term it may even affect your work. That is why if you have a commercial driver’s license and have recently been ticketed, it is so important to find an experienced traffic attorney to help you fight it.
Negative Affects on Your CDL
Traffic violations that would not seem serious to the average driver can become serious traffic violations for drivers with commercial driver’s licenses (CDL). Aside from getting caught driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, driving 15 miles per hour or more above the posted speed limit is considered a very serious matter as it is a misdemeanor. Improper lane changes, following a vehicle too closely, not having a valid log book, reckless driving all count as serious traffic violations and can put a serious dent in your ability to work. Each citation for one of these offences can count as a point and a half (1 ½ ) or two (2) points on your driving record, and CDL traffic attorneys know that under California law, racking up just two traffic violation citations in three years can result in the loss of your license for up to one year. For most drivers, violations such as these are mere nuisance, but for someone who drives for a living they can be extremely detrimental. And unlike other California drivers, traffic citations for commercial drivers cannot be worked off through traffic school.
Because commercial driver’s license (CDL) holders are on highways and city streets every day, sometimes for as much as 300,000 miles per year, they are held to a much higher standard than other California motorists. For the typical noncommercial California driver, the legal blood alcohol content limit is .08%. That means they can get pulled over and test all the way up to .07% before they get cited for driving under the influence of alcohol. For those with commercial driver’s licenses, however, the limit in California is just .04% which can make it difficult to fight traffic tickets. In some cases, a commercial driver’s license holder who registers any blood alcohol content at all can be cited. Noncommercial drivers may or may not lose their driving privileges depending on their individual case. Any knowledgeable traffic attorney will tell you that for the majority of CDL holders, getting caught driving under the influence of alcohol or any controlled substance can result in the loss of your CDL for a year or more. Refusing to undergo chemical testing to determine your blood alcohol concentration can also result in the automatic loss of your commercial driver’s license for a year or more. That same traffic attorney will also tell you that having any blood alcohol content, even if it is below .04%, can put you out-of-service for 24 hours or more.
How Do You Protect Your CDL?
For all these reasons and more, you need an experienced traffic attorney to help you fight your traffic citations. A qualified traffic attorney is thoroughly trained in both traffic laws and courtroom procedures. With your CDL and livelihood on the line, putting yourself in the hands of a capable traffic attorney is the best decision you can make. At the Traffic Ticket Pros, we will fight traffic tickets to keep your driving record clean and make sure you can continue to work as a licensed commercial driver and support your family. Call the traffic attorneys at the Traffic Ticket Pros today to start protecting your job and your reputation.
