Nevada Supreme Court Toughens DUI Law
Nevada's highest court recently determined that a driver suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol needs to fail only one of two successive breath tests for him/her to lose his/her license pursuant to a DUI charge. This overrules an earlier decision by a Clark County judge. This new rule only applies to whether the suspect's license can be suspended, not to whether criminal DUI charges may be levied against him/her.
Nevada commercial DUI law makes it a crime for most truck, bus or shuttle drivers to drive under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Even if they're driving safely, they can still be charged with violating Nevada commercial DUI law if they have a BAC of 0.04 or more. This is half of the legal limit for non-commercial drivers.
The typical sentence for breaking Nevada commercial DUI law is mostly identical to that of regular DUI. The major difference has to do with license suspension. A commercial driver who gets a first DUI conviction will lose their commercial driver's license (CDL) for one year, and that suspension is upped to three years if they were transporting hazardous materials at the time. And a second conviction for DUI results in lifelong revocation of the driver's CDL.
