Information on BAIID & Driver’s License Reinstatement
First Time DUI Charge – How To Get Back On The Road
A DUI (Driving Under the Influence) charge in Illinois is a serious offense, and can lead to license revocation, suspension, jail time, and fines. If your driver’s license is suspended or revoked, this will inevitably interfere with your daily life.
Getting to and from work might be difficult, if not impossible. If you are responsible for children or other dependents, taking care of them will become that much more challenging. Making sure you or your loved ones make it to their doctor appointments or school on time while not having a license greatly impacts your ability to provide for them and yourself.
Your driving privileges are worth fighting for, even though the process can be time consuming and quite difficult. Being charged with a DUI is one of the most daunting causes of license suspension and revocation. However, if you have recently been charged with a first time DUI offense, you are likely eligible for a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) or an RDP (Restricted Driving Permit). Both will allow you to drive legally with different restrictions, despite your DUI charge, and ease the weight of your conviction.
Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) and BAIID
Believe it or not, in the state of Illinois it is possible for someone charged or convicted of a DUI offense to regain driving privileges prior to their driver’s license being officially reinstated.
The MDDP allows those charged to legally, and safely, get back on the road as long as they are eligible.
A person charged with a DUI is not eligible for the MDDP if any of the following are true:
- Below age eighteen
- Received a statutory summary suspension in the past five years
- Were charged or convicted of a DUI in the past five years (in Illinois or other states)
- Your driver’s license has been revoked or is invalid/expired/etc.
- The accident in which you were charged with a DUI resulted in death or bodily harm of an individual
- You have a previous conviction of an aggravated DUI which resulted in death
- You were assigned court supervision for a DUI in the past five years
If a person is eligible for the MDDP, a vital step to regaining their driving privileges will be to obtain a BAIID (Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device) and have it installed in their vehicle while their license is suspended.
A BAIID is a device that requires a driver to blow into a breathalyzer before their car can be started. It also requires the driver to take occasional breath tests while driving. This prevents the driver from ever operating the vehicle if alcohol is in their system.
All fees and costs related to the MDDP and a BAIID are required to be paid by the offender. Such expenses include a monthly $30.00 monitoring fee, and an $8.00 permit fee to the Secretary of State. These payments must be made before an MDDP is issued.
For BAIID, each vendor in Illinois that provides BAIIDs charges fees for the installation and monitoring of the BAIID, and they are all different. Should another individual drive the vehicle on which the BAIID is installed, the MDDP holder is still responsible for all actions recorded on the BAIID.
Information gathered from the BAIID is downloaded every sixty days to the Illinois Secretary of State’s office. Any recorded violations will require an explanation from the MDDP holder. An insufficient explanation or complete lack thereof can result in an extended driver’s license suspension, and/or cancellation of the MDDP. More than one extension can result in the vehicle being impounded, or seized.
It should also be noted that as soon as a MDDP is issued, the holder will have fourteen days to install a BAIID device on all vehicles they plan to drive during their suspension. Failure to have the BAIID installed in a timely manner may result in the MDDP being cancelled or the suspension being extended.
RDPs and BAIID
The BAIID program is utilized for both MDDPs and RDPs (Restricted Driving Permits). RDPs are allotted for those whose licenses have been revoked. If you have two or more losses of driving privileges and are granted an RDP through a formal hearing with the Secretary of State, you will be required to have a BAIID machine installed in your vehicle and any vehicle that you operate. Failure to have the BAIID installed in a timely manner, or having BAIID violations, may result in your RDP being cancelled
Driver’s License Reinstatement Lawyer in Illinois
If you are seeking a qualified and reliable driver’s license reinstatement lawyer in Illinois, contact Johnson & Goldrich, P.C. We will be with you every step of the way, and we will make the process of regaining your driving privileges as easy and simple as possible.
If you are eligible for a BAIID after a first time DUI offense, you can rely on us to help you regain your driving privileges as fast as possible. Contact our trusted driver’s license reinstatement attorneys today.