In The City of Royal Oak Michigan it is a crime for a driver to have a bodily alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or greater if over age 21 or .02 or greater if under 21. In addition, Michigan has a high-BAC law with enhanced penalties for anyone caught driving with a BAC of .17 or higher. However, drivers can be arrested at any BAC level if they exhibit signs of impairment while operating a motor vehicle.
Drivers with any amount of a Schedule 1 controlled substance and/or cocaine are subject to the same fines and penalties as drunk drivers, even if they show no signs of impairment. The only exception is an individual who has a valid medical marijuana card and is driving with marijuana in his or her system. Under the law, an officer must show they are impaired due to that marijuana.
Source (check for updates)
Who are you Going to Call for DUI or Drugged Driving if you are Going to Fight the Charges?
That’s an easy answer if you’re going to fight. Komorn Law. Go look and see what attorney Michael Komorn has done for yourself. Good lawyers aren’t free and free lawyers aren’t good. If you want someone to just stand there with you and not fight then you might want to call someone else.
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How do you get Pulled Over for DUI?
OK so you’ve gone out supported the local businesses, endured inflated pricing and possibly paid to attend tax payer funded events and it’s time to go home. If are the chosen one during the salmon run going home on Woodward and you got pulled over. You danced a jig and competed in a competency test on the side of the road with flashing lights, traffic and what ever the weather was not many people could pass on their best day. And after all that you’re told you were under arrest under the “suspicion” and opinion of Driving Under the Influence (DUI) of alcohol, marijuana or drugs according to the arresting officer.
Keeping a Hungry System Fed
So you’re sitting in the back of the cop car watching out the window your life slowly being destroyed as your car is towed and impounded and after a DRE “expert” probed you more you were “lodged” in the new police station jail and then had to go to the new courthouse to be humiliated further. There you are commanded to pay fines, costs, administrative fees, percentage costs to cover the other fees, electronic transfer fees. convenience fees and had your driver license taken away, put on daily, weekly alcohol and drug testing, reporting fees, more administrative fees along with more electronic convenience fees, probation costs and more I can’t think of right now. Wait…you had to get bailed out too.
Oh there’s more… you had to pay to get your car from the pound lost your job, the ability to be a part of some community or school events and the final poke in the eye. After you get your ability to drive back you have to have an ignition locking device on your vehicle ($$ install fee) to go look for a new job. If you’re lucky enough to make it to the end of your sentence it takes an act of god (court release) to get that thing off long after your whipping is done ($$ removal fee). It also costs you $200-$300 a month and the city most likely collects a commission from the “sale”.
In the end you’re looking at maybe $10,000.00 or more.
Whether you were drinking, smoking marijuana – or not – you should to hire a lawyer and fight. Because in the long run it may cost you less and your charges may be modified to a lessor offense. It could cost a little more but it will be over and you can move forward instead of being caught up in the system that does all it can to keep you there. Got to keep the lights on and salaries paid!
Are DUI and Related Offenses are Serious in Royal Oak?
DUI and related offenses are serious. In the City of Royal Oak and the State Michigan drunk driving is known as Operating While Intoxicated (OWI). If you have been arrested under the suspicion of drunk or DUI (Driving Under the Influence) in Royal Oak how much will bail cost? A good starting place would be $1000. This depends on your driving history.
A first offense DUI is treated as a misdemeanor in Michigan. Penalties can include fines up to $500, up to 93 days in jail, up to 360 hours of community service, license suspension, an ignition interlock device and 6 points added to your driving record. Read more detail below.
How Much is a Good Lawyer for DUI or Drugged Driving?
Good lawyers aren’t free and free lawyers aren’t good. True experienced fighting lawyers cost more. If you’re going to fight it all depends on what happened, how much was said, how much evidence if any and your history. If you want a dedicated fighting lawyer in the trench next to you – then call Komorn Law.
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What are the Costs and Consequences of a DUI Conviction?
(Just the Tip of the Iceberg you’re About to Hit)
If BAC is below .17 and this is a first offense:
- Up to $500 fine
- Up to 93 days in jail
- Up to 360 hours of community service
- Up to 180 days license suspension
- 6 points on a driver’s license
If BAC is .17 or higher and this is a first offense:
- Up to $700 fine
- Up to 180 days in jail
- Up to 360 hours of community service
- Up to one year license suspension
- 6 points on a driver’s license
- Mandatory completion of an alcohol treatment program
- Ignition interlock use and compliance after 45 days license suspension is required to receive a restricted driver’s license. Convicted drunk drivers have limited driving privileges, are prohibited from operating a vehicle without an approved and properly installed ignition interlock device, and are responsible for all installation and upkeep costs for the device.
Anyone who refuses a breath test the first time is given an automatic one-year driver’s license suspension. For a second refusal within seven years, the suspension is two years.
Convicted drunk drivers are subject to a $1,000 penalty for two consecutive years under the Driver Responsibility Act, for a total of $2,000 in additional costs.
Michigan Driving Regulations from the City of Royal Oak Website
Required Documents
All residents, non-residents, and international visitors must possess valid operators’ licenses to drive in Michigan, as well as automobile registration certificates and proof of insurance for vehicles driven.
Information about “Super Drunk Law”
On October 31st, 2010, the new “Super Drunk” law went into effect. This law states that a person driving a vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .17 or higher can be convicted under an enhanced operating while intoxicated charge. This law only applies to first time offenders with a blood alcohol level of .17 or higher. People with a blood alcohol level between .08 to .16 or that have prior convictions will be prosecuted under the existing operating while intoxicated laws. The new law will include an additional $200 in fines as well as up to 180 days in jail. It also includes mandatory alcohol rehabilitation and a one year suspension of driving privileges. Drivers will be eligible for a restricted license after 45 days if they agree to and install an interlock device on their car. There will also be a $1000 driver responsibility fee for two consecutive years. Furthermore, drivers will still be responsible for the cost of prosecution.
Drive Sober or get pulled over.
Drunk driving is a deadly epidemic that takes the lives of more than 10,000 people each year, on average.
Drinking & Driving
On September 30, 2003, changes to Michigan’s drunk driving laws became effective throughout the state. These changes were passed unanimously by the Michigan Legislature to maintain federal highway funds, but several additional new laws were packaged along with the new .08% threshold.
Semantically, the new laws re-defined the prior offense of OUIL (operating under the influence of intoxicating liquors) to OWI (operating while intoxicated). The prior charge of OWI (operating while impaired) was altered to OWVI (operating while visibly impaired) to avoid confusion. The new offense of OWI incorporates the .08 per se standard, lowering the prohibited blood alcohol content (BAC) level from .10 to .08.
Under Michigan’s prior drunk driving laws, the offense of operating while visibly impaired, which prohibited driving with a blood alcohol level greater than .07 but less than .10, remains in effect, but the new impaired provisions do not have any numerical blood alcohol levels to define when a driver is impaired. In essence, there are few differences between a charge of OWI and OWVI, but an impaired charge carried slightly lower fines and slightly less harsh driving sanctions. As such, under Michigan’s prior drunk driving laws, the federally mandated threshold of .08 was already effectively enforced in Michigan.
Another significant change under the new 0.08 law includes longer suspension periods for refusing to submit to a Datamaster Breathalyzer test. Under Michigan’s prior drunk driving law, anyone who wrongfully refused a police officer’s request would lose their driving privileges for a period of six months. Under the new law, the suspension is lengthened from six months to one year for a first implied consent refusal and two years for any additional refusals within a 7-year period.
The “zero tolerance” law prohibits anyone under the age of 21 from operating a motor vehicle with “any bodily alcohol content” defined as a blood alcohol level in excess of 0.02 but less than 0.08. If the underage driver’s blood alcohol level exceeds 0.08, presumably the underage driver will be charged with the more serious offense of Operating while Intoxicated (OWI). In the event that an underage driver is charged with OWI, a court is not permitted to dismiss the more serious charge, although a prosecutor maintains that ability in plea negotiations.
Seat Belt Law
To view Michigan’s Seat Belt law, click here.
Michigan has a primary seat belt law, which means law enforcement can stop and ticket motorists solely for not being buckled up.
The law requires:
- Passengers 8-15 to buckle up in all seating positions
- Drivers and front seat passengers to be buckled up
Michigan’s child passenger safety law requires:
- Children younger than age 4 to ride in a car seat in the rear seat if the vehicle has a rear seat. If all available rear seats are occupied by children under 4, then a child under 4 may ride in a car seat in the front seat. A child in a rear-facing car seat may only ride in the front seat if the airbag is turned off.
- Children to be properly buckled in a car seat or booster seat until they are 8 years old or 4-feet-9-inches tall. Children must ride in a seat until they reach the age requirement or the height requirement, whichever comes first.
Disability Parking
A person with a qualifying disability is eligible for a disability license plate or parking placard. To obtain a disability plate or placard, Michigan law requires that people be blind or have any condition that significantly limits their ability to walk or requires a wheelchair, walker, crutch or other assistive device.
Disability parking placards are limited to one per person. Permanent disability placards are valid for four years and are issued to individuals whose condition is not expected to improve. Temporary disability placards are valid from one to six months and are issued to individuals whose condition is expected to improve.
A person may have both a disability license plate and a placard. Free parking is provided only to vehicles displaying a disability placard with a yellow free-parking sticker. The requirements for obtaining a free-parking sticker are more narrowly defined than for a disability license plate or placard.
Right on Red
Where not otherwise prohibited, Michigan allows right turns on red after a full stop. Michigan also allows left turns onto one-way streets when there is no oncoming traffic.
Graduated Driver’s Licensing
Graduated Driver Licensing (GDL) is a driver licensing system designed to teach teens to drive by gradually increasing their driving privileges as they advance through the system. GDL consists of two segments of driver education instruction and three licensing levels.
The three licensing levels in GDL are: a supervised learner’s license (Level 1 License), an intermediate license that limits passengers and unsupervised nighttime driving (Level 2 License), and a full-privilege driver’s license (Level 3 License) issued after a teen driver has successfully completed all previous instruction and driving requirements.
GDL license levels 1 and 2 have certain restrictions to limit teens’ driving exposure to high-risk situations and help protect them while they are learning to drive.
The GDL Timeline shows how graduated driver licensing and driver education are intertwined. Michigan’s Graduated Driver Licensing: A Guide for Parents contains valuable information on graduated driver licensing, driver education, coaching tips for parents and more. Parents and teens are encouraged to read this publication.
- Learn about the eligibility requirements for a GDL Level, 1,2, or 3 driver’s license.
- Learn about the restrictions for GDL Level 1 and Level 2 licensed drivers and the consequences for violating them.
- Learn about what documents you need to take with you to the Secretary of State branch office.