CONSUMERS : New Drunk Driving Law in Effect July 1

California motorists be advised: After July 1, police officers will take your driver’s license on the spot if you’re arrested and held on suspicion of drunk driving.

Once taken to the station, if you fail a Breathalyzer, blood or urine test--or refuse to take one--officers now must pull your license and send it to the Department of Motor Vehicles; you will be issued a temporary permit in exchange.

First offenders--with no prior driving under the influence convictions in seven years--will have their licenses suspended for four months. Motorists with one or more DUI convictions in seven years will receive a one-year suspension. It will cost DUI offenders $100 to get a license reissued after the suspension ends.

Drivers charged with driving under the influence have 10 days, after their licenses are lifted, to make administrative appeals with the DMV, which must schedule hearings within 45 days.

In many cases, the agency will take administrative action to suspend a license even before a motorist gets to the courts, which, in their turn, can impose additional suspensions and penalties.

The new drunk driving law was sponsored by state Sen. Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward) and was widely supported by law enforcement agencies and Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

State authorities say the measure addresses one of their biggest past problems with DUI offenders, many of whom claimed they had continued to drive because they had not been notified their licenses had been suspended.

“Even after people get pulled over for a DUI, it some times takes three to six months to get them off the road under the old system,” said a Lockyer aide. “This law will provide sure and swift justice.”

California joins 27 other states with similar laws.

“We’re trying a little more cause and effect,” said Steve Kohler, California Highway Patrol spokesman. “We certainly don’t think the new law will hurt. Maybe it will help.”