The paper the officer handed you in place of your license is doing two jobs at once. It is your notice that your driving privilege is suspended, and it is your permit to drive. It stops being both at midnight on the tenth day.
Two separate things can happen inside that window, and they lead to very different places. Most people learn the difference after the window has closed. Answer three questions and this will lay out where you actually stand.
1. What does the notice say happened?
It is the paper the officer gave you in place of your license. It is also your
permit to drive, and it expires.
2. What is the date on the notice?
The clock runs from your arrest date or the date the notice was issued, whichever
is later. Usually they are the same day. If a blood test came back later, the notice date is the
one that counts. Do not use the date you were released.
3. Has any of this ever happened before?
Answer for your whole life and every state. A prior administrative suspension
counts even if the criminal DUI charge was later dropped or reduced.
If you are considering the waiver path
The eligibility application, form HSMV 72034, is not complete without proof that you are already enrolled in DUI school. Florida licenses one program per county, so there is nothing to shop for. See the licensed program for your county, with addresses and phone numbers.
What this tool is not
It reads the statutes and the DHSMV forms for the answers you gave. It cannot read your notice, your driving record, the officer’s report, the breath instrument’s inspection history, or the agency’s compliance records. Those decide real cases.
The administrative suspension and the criminal DUI charge are two different proceedings with two different decision makers and two different standards of proof. Winning one does not end the other. Losing one does not decide the other. People routinely assume the hearing resolved the case, and it did not.
From the blog: the deadline hiding on the paper in your pocket.
