How Do Out Of State DWI Suspensions Affect My New Jersey License?
Pursuant to the Interstate Driver’s License Compact, participant States must report each driving conviction of a person from another party State that occurs within its borders.New Jersey, as a participant in this compact, will receive notifications from other participant States (like New York), regarding Driving While Impaired or Driving While Intoxicated convictions. Upon notice of such a conviction, the New Jersey MVC will send you a notice of a hearing whereby they will suspend your license in accordance with the New York conviction. This means that you will not only have a year long suspension of your license in New York, but you will also be prohibited from operating a motor vehicle on the roads of New Jersey for the same time period that New York imposed.
New York DWI/DUI for a NJ Driver
If the conduct reported from New York is not an offense in New Jersey, then the New Jersey is required to impose the punishment associated with a substantially similar offense under New Jersey Law. This is tricky for those charged with Driving While Ability Impaired in New York. Technically, DWAI in New York does not require the same proofs as New Jersey’ s Driving While Intoxicated offenses. Nevertheless, the Division of Motor Vehicles will likely attempt to suspend your license, under N.J.S.A. 39:5D-4(c), for a period either the same or longer than that of New York’s. If you were charged and subsequently convicted of Driving While Ability Impaired in New York, you could be hit with a license as if you were charged with a DWI in New Jersey. This was specifically ruled upon by the New Jersey courts in Division of Motor Vehicles v. Lawrence, 194 N.J.Super. 1 (App. Div. 1983), whereby the Appellate Division held that the offense of driving while impaired under New York law is substantially similar to the New Jersey drunk driving offense under N.J.S.A. 39:4-50(a) and therefore warrants reciprocation of a suspension.
Can I Reduce My License Suspension In New Jersey?
Yes. After New Jersey’s Division of Motor Vehicles receives notice of your New York DWAI, the New Jersey MVC will send you a letter of notice that your New Jersey driver’s license will be suspended. At that time you can retain a suspension attorney to request a hearing regarding your license suspension. The MVC will set a date for the hearing, at which point you can petition for a shorter suspension period in New Jersey. Often times the individual handling the hearing will agree to lower the suspension as much as half of the proposed period.
Our firm has experience in both negotiating lower periods of suspension, as well as agreements for no suspension at all. Depending on the circumstances of your case, you may be a prime candidate for such an outcome.
Call the Law Offices of Jonathan F. Marshall at 1 (877) 450-8301 and speak with an experienced traffic attorney about your out-of-state DWI/DUI conviction and how it affects your ability to drive in New Jersey.
