Driving beyond the scope of My restricted driver license

Driving beyond the scope of a Restriced Driver License

Question:  I was convicted of a DUI in Los Angeles and I have some questions and concerns about getting a restricted driver license next week.  They told me I am only allowed to drive to and from work and to and from my alcohol classes.

My question is, If I get pulled over how does an officer verify this? Do they have my house address and alcohol class address?  I can’t find much information on the internet about this issue which seems odd.  Why is that?

Answer:  This is a question I get regularly from, and my answer…. this is a gray area. Work is not specified by specific hours (ie. 9am-5pm), and it is not specific to certain types of jobs. I have represented clients who are musicians, and their job is at a club to play a show at night. If that person then got pulled over on the way to work, and the officer was told he was going to a club, the officer may decide to cite him with driving outside of the scope of the restriction. Whether that officer should cite him is a totally different question, and there would certainly be arguments in court that the person was driving within the scope of the restriction, as he was driving to work, as he works as a musician.

I personally don’t think this issues actually occur very often. I get calls and referrals from people who are arrested for DUI, and calls and referrals for people who have been charged with driving on a suspended license. But I have never received a call for someone who is charged with driving outside the scope of their restricted license. Not to say it doesn’t, can’t or won’t happen, but it is not a common issue in my opinion, which helps contribute to my description of it as a “gray area”.

I would not recommend that you take any chances with it personally.  But in the event that you get cited for such a situation, please call me to discuss further.

Also, in regards to verifying your address, an officer can look at your license and see your address. Of course, if you moved since getting your license and never updated the change of address with the DMV, the officer could question you further to make his or her determination on how they are going to handle the stop, and whether they are going to cite you.

DUI and Criminal Defense Attorney