DUI STEP 1: Request a DMV hearing

What to do after a DUI in LA County

Step 1: Contact the DMV urgently and ask for a DMV stay and a DMV hearing. A STAY and a HEARING buy you more time to drive and a chance at avoiding a license suspension.

Full instructions on how to ask for a Stay and a Hearing are included below.

Your temporary license

When you get arrested for a DUI in California, the officer will almost always take your driver’s license away and give you a pink piece of paper which is your 30-day temporary license. This document is confusing and difficult to understand.

THE BOTTOM LINE

  • You only have 10 days to call the DMV after your arrest – otherwise, your license is subject to automatic license suspension 30 days after your DUI arrest date.
  • You must call specific DMV offices (listed below) and not your local DMV office where you are likely to be misinformed.
  • Get a STAY and a DMV HEARING even if your license is suspended, so make this phone call!

Benefits of a Stay and DMV Hearing for DUI

  • A STAY of suspension allows you to keep driving even after your 30-day temporary pink license has expired, so this means you can keep driving at least until the date of your DMV Hearing. Your DMV Hearing is usually 1-3 months after your arrest so a Stay can possibly buy you at least 2 more months of driving.
  • A DMV Hearing gives you an opportunity to try to prevent the DMV from suspending your license.

Get a STAY and a DMV HEARING even if your license is suspended, so make this phone call!

If you like you can contact our office (310) 285-1516 and we will obtain a stay and a DMV hearing for you if you were arrested in Los Angeles County.

How the 10-day count-down works

After you have been arrested for a DUI you only have 10 days to request a DMV Hearing.  For instance, if you were arrested on March 5, you only have until March 15 to request a DMV hearing.

The DMV is very strict about this 10-day rule for requesting a DMV hearing and if you request a hearing after 10 days have passed since your DUI arrest, the DMV will likely deny your late hearing request unless you have a very good reason such as you were in jail or in the hospital.

Which DMV Office to call for a Stay and a Hearing

DMV Driver Safety Offices

You must call specific DMV offices called Driver Safety Offices and not your local neighborhood DMV office where you are likely to be misinformed.

DMV Driver Safety Offices in California

There are two ways you can request a DMV hearing – by phone or by fax.

Find the Driver Safety Office nearest to where you were arrested

You can call or fax a special DMV office called a Driver Safety Office. There are 17 Driver Safety Offices in the State of California that handle DUI DMV hearings and you must contact the one in the same area as you were arrested.

For example, if you were arrested in the San Fernando Valley for a DUI you must contact the Van Nuys Driver Safety office to request a DMV hearing.  If you were arrested in Santa Monica, Hermosa Beach, Torrance or other places near the El Segundo Driver Safety Office you must call the El Segundo Driver Safety Office to request a DMV hearing.

Map of DMV Driver Safety Offices in Los Angeles County.

Click to view Google map in a new tab showing DMV Driver Safety Offices in or near Los Angeles County.

You must contact the Driver Safety Office which is nearest to where you were arrested (not nearest to where you live). See list of 17 Driver Safety Offices in the State of California

Phone your request

When you are confident you have identified the Driver Safety Office nearest to where you were arrested, then look up their phone number and operating hours from this page www.dmv.ca.gov/portal/dmv/dmv/offices/driversafetyoffices

Fax your request

Instead of calling you can fax a DMV hearing request to the proper Driver Safety Office by faxing a letter. See below for the important information to include in your fax.

If you have any questions please call (310) 285-1516 to discuss.

What to ask the DMV

When you call the DMV:-

  1. Ask them to grant you a STAY and a DMV HEARING.
    • A Stay allows you to keep driving even after your 30-day temporary pink license has expired; so this means you can keep driving at least until the date of your DMV Hearing.
    • Your DMV Hearing is usually 1-3 months after your arrest so a Stay can possibly buy you at least 2 more months of driving.
    • A DMV Hearing gives you an opportunity to try to prevent the DMV from suspending your license.
  2. Ask for “Discovery”.  This means you request the DMV to send your Police Report to you.  It should arrive by post approximately 10 days before your DMV Hearing.
  3. When you speak to a DMV employee, write down his or her name and the date & time you called to record and verify you called the DMV within 10 days of your arrest. The DMV is very strict about this 10-day rule.

Have your ticket ready when you call

The DMV employee will ask you for:-

  • Your Drivers Licence Number
  • Date of arrest
  • Where you got arrested
  • The name & ID number of the officer who arrested you
  • What type of test you took, blood, breath or if you refused to take a test

Your ticket contains this information so have it ready.

DUI Attorney

The DMV employee will then probably ask you if you are going to hire a lawyer; if you are, the DMV will give you five days to have your DUI attorney contact them to schedule your DMV Hearing.

Fax your request

Sometimes when you call the DMV you are put on hold for a long time, so instead, you might want to fax in your request for a stay and a hearing. Using the fax number listed on this DMV page for your Driver Safety Office, you can fax in a letter with the following details, most of which you can find on your ticket:-

  • Your name
  • Your driver’s license number
  • The date of your arrest
  • The location of your arrest
  • The name of the police agency who arrested you
  • Name and ID # of officer who arrested you
  • Type of chemical test you took
  • And your contact information such as phone number and address.

Most importantly, make sure you get a fax confirmation sheet that shows:-

  1. The date and time you faxed your DMV hearing request, and
  2. The driver safety fax number that you faxed the request to.

Download FAX template (MS-Word document)
and fill in your own details.

Make sure you keep confirmation of your fax with the date & time you sent it, and the fax number you sent it to, to prove you contacted the DMV within 10 days of your arrest.

If you have any questions please call (310) 285-1516 to discuss.

We can help in LA

Los Angeles DUI Attorney

We can do this for you – we can obtain a Stay and DMV Hearing for you if you were arrested for DUI in Los Angeles County.

Contact our office (310) 285-1516 and we will obtain a Stay and a DMV Hearing for you.  We will fax a request to the DMV Office and keep confirmation or proof of the request.

See also:-

NEXT TASK
DUI Arrest Task 2: Make notes about your arrest

Print-Friendly Page Print-Friendly Page
Free Legal Consultation with a Los Angeles DUI Attorney(310) 285-1516