Sami Azhari, Attorney at Law
Driving under the influence is a criminal offense in Illinois. The first offense is generally a Class A misdemeanor. Under very rare circumstances, a first offense can be a felony. The statute for DUI is found in the vehicle code at 625 ILCS 5/11-501. Most cases are charged under 11-501(a)(1) for having an alcohol concentration […]
Any person who operates a commercial motor vehicle on Illinois roadways without the required license commits a crime. By statute, it is a Class A misdemeanor offense to drive a CMV without a CDL. The Illinois vehicle code prohibits the operation of a commercial motor vehicle without a CDL under section 625 ILCS 5/6-507. The […]
As an attorney I cannot count the number of times clients say to me, “I did not get arrested for driving while suspended. I just got a ticket.” Many people are misinformed. The law in Illinois says that a person does not have to be handcuffed in order to be, in legal terms, arrested. A […]
Basically, the Illinois state government enforces the rules of the road in two ways: first, the police ticket drivers who violate the vehicle code, and the court can impose penalties such as fines and even jail time for criminal offenses. Second, the Secretary of State can impose sanctions on a person’s driving privileges as a […]
If you were pulled over by a police officer and given a ticket for driving without a valid license, you are looking at some serious problems. Contrary to what many people believe, getting a ticket for driving without a valid license, 625 ILCS 5/6-101, is the same as getting arrested. Legally speaking, the fact that […]
The Secretary of State can take away a commercial driver’s license for traffic violations. While a driver’s license can be suspended or revoked, a CDL is cancelled. A person whose CDL is cancelled usually can still drive a non-commercial motor vehicle. The fact that a CDL is cancelled does not automatically take away that person’s […]
Illinois is one of the toughest states when it comes to a young person’s driving privileges. In addition to the Zero Tolerance law, which suspends a person’s driver’s license for consuming alcohol before age 21, the Secretary of State has multiple laws it can use to take away your license. In fact, a driver who […]
If you have been charged with leaving the scene of an accident involving injury or death, you have to be concerned not only with the potential penalty in court, but also with the loss of driving privileges. This crime can result hypothetically in a lifetime loss of driving privileges. The Illinois Secretary of State is […]
- by Sami Azhari, DUI Lawyer
