Why is my license suspended for refusing or blowing over the .15 limit?

What causes a license suspension in South Carolina? If a person is arrested and charged with a DUI, then there are really two steps to that:

If the person is arrested for DUI and is offered [and refused] a breath test (and the person has the right to refuse to take the breath test and most people refuse) then the South Carolina license is suspended immediately, in other words, the officer takes your license from you that night. You have 30 days to request a hearing on that issue: it’s called an administrative hearing and it’s very important that you request that.

The other way the license is suspended is if you actually take the breath test, but your reading is a .15 or greater. That also triggers the suspension. (If you take the breath test and your test reading is under a .15, even though you’re still charged with a DUI your license is not suspended that night.)

You have a couple of options here – you can request a hearing, which we recommend, and we do on every case so that we’re able to get a temporary license so the person can start driving again in about a week to ten days. There’s also an application for a route-restricted license: we usually recommend a person pursues that if they can’t get the temporary license or if we lose the breath test hearing.

So, it’s very important – the clock is ticking. They give you a form which you need to hang on to, and it’s very important to request that hearing and get your license back, because most people really need their driver’s license in order to function and take care of their responsibilities and their family.