DWI and DUI Attorney
Serving Fayetteville, Hope Mills, Fort Liberty, Spring Lake, Eastover, NC & All of Cumberland County

If you refuse a breath test during your stop, your license will be revoked for a year whether you are convicted or not. If you are charged with a DWI or DUI in North Carolina, your driver's license will immediately be revoked for 30 days. After ten days, you will be eligible for a limited driving privilege leading up to your trial. That means, if you did not refuse a breath test and you fulfill the requirements, you may drive for:

• Commuting to work or school
• Necessary outings to maintain your household, such as grocery shopping or taking your children to school
• Medical emergencies
• Taking DWI classes, which will be mandatory if you are convicted
• Doing community service, which you will likely be ordered to do if you are convicted.

There are several things you must do to qualify for the limited driving privilege:

• Do not drive at all until you are approved to do so. If you are caught driving before you are allowed, you will be in further trouble.
• Obtain a DL-123 form from your insurance company showing that you have active insurance.
• Take a Substance Abuse Assessment from a qualified agency.
• Obtain other paperwork, including your driving record for the last seven years, other forms, and documentation showing your schedule. We can either obtain the forms for you or walk you through the ones you'll need.

Whether you opt for the limited driving privilege or choose not to drive for 30 days, you can get your license restored on the 31st day after you were stopped for Driving While Impaired.

You will still need to attend a hearing regarding your DWI; if you are convicted, your license will be revoked again, this time for a year.

DWI/DUI cases in North Carolina can be extremely complex. Working with an experienced DWI attorney can help you understand the process and ensures that you do everything necessary to be able to remain on schedule. We understand how devastating losing your license can be, so our DUI attorney will advocate for your interests.  If you are in the Fayetteville, NC area, including Hope Mills, NC; Fort Liberty, NC; or Spring Lake, NC, our DUI attorney can help.

Types of Field Sobriety Tests

Field sobriety tests are groups of three tests used to determine if a driver is impaired. The goal of the tests is to asses your balance, coordination, and your ability to drive. These tests have been scientifically proven to validate legal intoxication if administered by a trained police officer. The result of field sobriety tests is admissible in court. The tests used include:

• Horizontal Gaze Nystagmus: HGN is an involuntary jerking of the eyeball which happens to a person when the eyes are rotated at high peripheral angles. When intoxicated, these jerks become more pronounced and at lesser angles.

• Walk-and-Turn: This test is where the person suspected of intoxication is told to walk in a straight line for 9 steps and walk with your feet touching heel-to-toe. An intoxicated person may start before instructions are finished, lose balance, or take an incorrect number of steps.

• One-Leg Stand: An officer will ask to have one leg lifted about 6 inches off the ground and count forwards from 1,000. The officer will be looking to see if you hop to maintain balance, put your foot down, sway, or use your arms to balance.

If you were administered a field sobriety test and deemed intoxicated, do not fret. They are not perfect sciences. Issues or mistakes during the test may be grounds for dismissal. Our DUI lawyer can help review the facts of the tests and help you build a defense against the results that were against you.