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For many people in rural areas of North Carolina and even some urban areas, public transportation is not widely available enough that you’ll have a reliable way to commute. If you’re in that category of people and have had your driver’s license suspended because of an impaired driving-related conviction or certain traffic ticket convictions, you’re probably wondering how on earth you’re supposed to keep your job until you can reinstate your license. The good news is that you may qualify for a Limited Driving Privilege (“LDP”), which is governed by North Carolina General Statute § 20-179.3.

A Limited Driving Privilege is a court order that allows you to still drive for purposes related to employment, education, maintaining your household (i.e., going to buy groceries), religious worship, emergency medical care, substance abuse assessment, or treatment ordered by the court, and community service that is a condition of your probation. However, if you are suspended because of an impaired driving-related conviction, there are certain requirements that must be met in order for the court to find you eligible for an LDP in North Carolina:

At the time of the offense of conviction, you must have had a valid driver’s license or an otherwise valid license that had been expired for less than one year;
You cannot have been convicted of any other impaired driving offense (DWI/DUI) within the last seven years;
Since the date of the offense, you cannot have been convicted of another impaired driving offense;
You were sentenced as a Level 3, 4, or 5 for the instant DWI; and
You have completed a substance abuse assessment and filed a proof of completion with the court.

There are enhanced requirements to get an LDP if you had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.15 or more at the time of the offense. In addition, the requirements to get an LDP are a bit different if you’re seeking to get an LDP due to a traffic ticket conviction unrelated to impaired driving. If you or a loved one are facing a DWI charge, traffic ticket, or license suspension, please contact one of our experienced criminal attorneys to help advocate for your rights.

IF CONVICTED Of A DWI OR DUI

A sentencing hearing will follow where the prosecutor and defendant can present aggravating and mitigating evidence.

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When the police arrest you and ask you if you did it, you know that you did. You may not answer them right then — it’s best not to answer questions on your own, without a lawyer present — but you know that they’re right. You did it.

Does that mean you’re guilty? They’ll threaten you with fines, jail time and all sorts of related ramifications. Is there no way around that? Are they right that your life as you knew it is over, because you’re going to get convicted?

Absolutely not. There are plenty of examples of people who did exactly what they got accused of doing, but that did not mean they were actually guilty of a crime.

Self-defense

One of the best examples of this is if you acted in self-defense. You had a reason to take the steps that you did. Your own actions were justified. Essentially, legal experts note that self-defense gives you the “right to prevent suffering force or violence through the use of a sufficient level of counteracting force or violence.”

For instance, imagine that someone breaks into your house at night. You hear the noise, get a handgun out of your bedside table — you bought that gun legally years ago — and you go downstairs. There are two men in your living room. They’re both armed, clearly holding guns themselves. They’ve kicked the door open. One turns toward you as you come down the stairs.

You fire at both men. They run out of the house, but they’re quickly found by police because you wounded both of them. One passes away from his injuries.

Due to some miscommunication about what happened, you get arrested. While shooting someone is clearly illegal in most situations, you can argue that you feared for your life and you simply acted to protect yourself and your family. Self-defense means you’re not guilty of a crime, even though you did fire the shots just like the police claim.