Category: WA DUI News

If you submitted to the alcohol breath test at the police station and blew over the legal limit (.08 if 21 or older, .02 if under 21, and .04 if driving a commercial vehicle) your driver’s license will automatically suspend 60 days after your DUI arrest. The same is true if you refused to take the breath test at the police station.

After the arrest, the police officer should have given you a Driver’s Hearing Request form from the WA State Department of Licensing. This hearing is very important as it gives your DUI lawyer an opportunity to contest or appeal your automatic driver’s license (including commercial driver’s license CDL) suspension. From the date of arrest, you have 7 days to submit this form to the DOL and pay the $200 hearing cost.

The license suspension hearing is a civil hearing that is separate from the DUI criminal case. It will need to be scheduled within 60 days of the arrest date. Cristine Beckwith is a Tacoma DUI attorney that can fight for you at your driver’s license suspension hearing and represent you on your criminal case. Cristine has a proven track record for being one of the top DUI attorneys in the Tacoma, Federal Way, Auburn, Puyallup, and Lakewood, WA areas and can be contacted for a free legal consultation.

King County recently heard motions addressing whether to continue suppressing breath test tickets in Driving Under the Influence cases. They have ruled that any breath tests associated with Simulator Solution batches prior to batch number 09052 will still be suppressed under their previous order. An experienced DUI attorney can fight to keep your breath test suppressed under this ruling. Cristine Beckwith is a Pierce County DUI attorney who has successfully argued to suppress DUI breath test results.

In 2011, the legislature has approved a new law that will no longer require that DUI defendants entering into a deferred prosecution have an ignition interlock requirement. This eliminates the statutory requirement for a two year ignition interlock license that was set by the Washington State Legislature in 2009. However, individual jurisdictions may still require DUI defendants to have an ignition interlock license, but they are no longer mandated to do so. More information on Washington State DUI law is available on the DUI Defense Practice Area page. Cristine Beckwith is an attorney in Tacoma, WA and defends the rights of those accused of felony and misdemeanor DUI.