New regulations by the Department of Motor Vehicles that took effect late last month will have a significant impact upon drivers with multiple convictions for driving while intoxicated. In a press release issued on September 25, 2012, Governor Cuomo announced that at his direction, the DMV “will issue new regulations that will give New York among the toughest protections in the nation against drivers who persistently drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs.” He also noted that over 300 people are killed and more than 6,000 injured as a result of alcohol-related crashes in New York.
The highlights of the new regulations affect applicants for restoration of their driving privileges as follows:
- Those with two or more alcohol or drug-related convictions within the prior 25 years will no longer be able to shorten the period of suspension or revocation by completion of the Drinking Driver Program.
- Those with three or four such convictions within 25 years, whose current suspension or revocation was not the result of an alcohol or drugged driving conviction, and who have not had a serious driving offense, will have an additional two years tacked on to their current suspension. When they are relicensed, it will be with a problem driver restriction for another two years. For those whose current suspension is the result of an alcohol or drugged driving conviction, the additional suspension period will be five years, with an additional five years as a problem driver.
- In the case of three or four alcohol or drugged driving convictions within 25 years, coupled with a serious driving offense, the driver will be permanently denied relicensing, subject to extenuating or compelling circumstances. A serious driving offense includes a driving fatality, certain criminal convictions, as well as the accumulation of a specified number of points on one’s driving record.
- Applicants with five or more alcohol/drug-related driving convictions on their driving record during their lifetime will be permanently denied relicensing, subject to extenuating or compelling circumstances.
If your New York driver’s license is currently suspended and you would like more information on the new regulations, contact a New York DWI attorney today.
George Vomvolakis Law Offices
275 Madison Avenue
New York, NY 10016
(212) 682-0700