California Per Se Laws

What are Per Se Laws in California

When an individual is intoxicated and operates a motorized vehicle, then there is a violation of California Per Se Laws. This is further buttressed by a blood alcohol concentration level test that is above the legal allowable limit. The current limit is 0.08% and if all three facts come to fore, then the per se laws become operational.

The first law violated is the California Administrative Per Se Law or the so-called “On-the-Spot” license suspension law. This law requires the Department of Motor Vehicles to suspend and even revoke the driving privileges of the individual who registers a blood alcohol concentration level because of the finding of above the legal limit or if the driver refuses to undergo a chemical test when arrested and booked.

The second law violated is the “Zero Tolerance Level” which empowers the DMV to sanction an individual with suspension of driving privileges of an individual under the age of twenty-one. The second factor in this Per Se law is the registry of a 0.1% or higher BAC level during the field sobriety test screening or refuses or fails the chemical tests. Upon arrest, the driver’s license is confiscated and suspension is imposed immediately unless later revoked after review.

The aforementioned Per Se laws operate independently of the penalties imposable if the individual is convicted of a criminal offense. A further sanction imposed would be in the refusal to undergo BAC testing. For this refusal, additional sanctions include suspension of driving privileges for one (1) year for the first offense, two (2) year suspension for the second offense and three (3) year suspension for three or more violations of the mandatory blood alcohol concentration tests.

California Per Se law violations are not about the operation of the vehicle. Called per se, it is the determination of the amount of alcohol in one’s system to be considered as violations of the law, regardless of the operation of any vehicle. The question to be determined is if the concentration of the alcohol is within legal limits. The important tests to be considered are the two preliminary alcohol screening tests conducted at the arrest immediately after operating the vehicle. While there are many factors that affect one’s blood alcohol concentration levels at the time of testing, which may fluctuate over time.

As can be seen, the California per se laws directly pertains to an individual’s DUI case. In order to be properly advised and guided on the steps towards facing this kind of legal problem, then call the DUI Lawyers of the Law Offices of Ramiro J. Lluis for a free consultation today.