Atlanta CDL Traffic Ticket Defense Attorney

Drivers holding a commercial motor vehicle drivers license, commonly abbreviated to CDL, are drivers who drive larger trucks including semi trucks and tractor trailers.  These larger vehicles require a special kind of driver license called a CDL.  Drivers who have a CDL are given the special privilege of being able to drive larger trucks for a living.  While a CDL driver has extra privileges, a CDL driver also has additional rules they need to follow.  If a driver holding a CDL does not follow these rules, they risk having their CDL suspended as a consequences of getting a traffic ticket.

If you’ve a CDL driver and you’ve gotten a traffic ticket in Atlanta, or anywhere in the State of Georgia including the counties of Gwinnett County, Dekalb County, Fulton County, Cobb County, Barrow County, Turner, County, Walton County, or Douglas County, or in the cities of Atlanta, Ashburn, Alpharetta, Braselton, Brookhaven, Chamblee, Doraville, Douglasville, Dunwoody, Duluth, Gainesville, Grantville, Jefferson, Johns Creek, Lawrenceville, Marietta, Norcross, Roswell, Sandy Springs, or Suwanee, call us at (678) 757-5529 for a free consultation.

Atlanta, GA CDL Traffic Ticket Defense

  • Why You Need a Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Defense Attorney
  • Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Laws and Statutes
  • Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Suspensions

Why You Need a Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Defense Attorney

If you’re here, you probably have a traffic ticket and you have a CDL license.  Your CDL is your livelihood and you need to protect it.  Without your CDL, you can’t provide for yourself or your family.  You are probably thinking, how will a traffic ticket affect my CDL?  Will a traffic ticket suspend my CDL?  Can I fight my CDL traffic ticket?

The Atlanta traffic ticket lawyers at Goldstein Law Group help CDL drivers fight their traffic tickets in Atlanta and across Georgia.  We know the special rules and regulations that a can suspend a commercial drivers license, and we make sure that we do everything we can to fight your traffic ticket so that it won’t suspend your CDL.

Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Laws and Statutes

O.C.G.A. 40-5-151 (2010)
40-5-151. Disqualification from driving; action required after suspending, revoking, or canceling license or nonresident privileges

(a) Any person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for a period of not less than one year if convicted of a first violation of a major traffic violation as defined in paragraph (18.2) of Code Section 40-5-142.

(b) Any person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for a period of three years if convicted of a first violation of using a commercial motor vehicle in the commission of a felony or a major traffic violation as defined in paragraph (18.2) of Code Section 40-5-142, provided that the vehicle being operated or used in connection with such violation or commission of such felony is transporting a hazardous material required to be placarded under Section 105 of the Hazardous Materials Transportation Act, 49 U.S.C. app. 1804.

(c) Any person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for life if convicted of a second or subsequent major traffic violation as defined in paragraph (18.2) of Code Section 40-5-142 or any combination of such violations arising from two or more separate incidents.

(d) The department may issue regulations establishing guidelines, including conditions, under which a disqualification for life under subsection (c) of this Code section may be reduced to a period of not less than ten years. The department is not authorized to make any other reduction in a term of disqualification or to issue a limited or other permit or license that would allow the operation of a commercial motor vehicle during the term of disqualification mandated by this Code section.

(e) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (d) of this Code section, any person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for life who knowingly uses a motor vehicle in the commission of any felony involving the manufacture, distribution, cultivation, sale, transfer of, trafficking in, or dispensing of a controlled substance or marijuana, or possession with intent to manufacture, distribute, cultivate, sell, transfer, traffic in, or dispense a controlled substance or marijuana.

(f) Any person is disqualified from driving a commercial motor vehicle for a period of:

(1) Not less than 60 days if convicted of two serious traffic violations as defined in paragraph (22) of Code Section 40-5-142 arising from separate incidents occurring within a three-year period as measured from the dates of arrests for which convictions were obtained; or

(2) Not less than 120 days if convicted of a third or subsequent serious traffic violation as defined in paragraph (22) of Code Section 40-5-142 arising from separate incidents occurring within a three-year period as measured from the dates of arrests for which convictions were obtained.

O.C.G.A. 40-5-142 (2010)
40-5-142. Definitions

As used in this article, the term:

(18.2) “Major traffic violation” means a conviction of any of the following offenses or a conviction of any law or ordinance equivalent thereto in this state, in any other state, or in any foreign jurisdiction, when operating either a commercial motor vehicle or, unless otherwise specified, a noncommercial motor vehicle:

(A) Driving a vehicle under the influence in violation of Code Section 40-6-391;

(B) Hit and run or leaving the scene of an accident in violation of Code Section 40-6-270, failure to report striking an unattended vehicle in violation of Code Section 40-6-271, failure to report striking a fixed object in violation of Code Section 40-6-272, or failure to report an accident in violation of Code Section 40-6-273;

(C) Except as provided in subsection (b) of Code Section 40-5-151, any felony in the commission of which a motor vehicle is used;

(D) Driving a commercial motor vehicle while the person’s commercial driver’s license or commercial driving privilege is revoked, suspended, canceled, or disqualified;

(E) Homicide by vehicle in violation of Code Section 40-6-393;

(F) Racing on highways or streets in violation of Code Section 40-6-186;

(G) Using a motor vehicle in fleeing or attempting to elude an officer in violation of Code Section 40-6-395;

(H) Fraudulent or fictitious use of or application for a license as provided in Code Section 40-5-120 or 40-5-125;

(I) Operating a motor vehicle with a revoked, canceled, or suspended registration in violation of Code Section 40-6-15;

(J) Violating Code Sections 16-8-2 through 16-8-9, if the property that was the subject of the theft was a vehicle engaged in commercial transportation of cargo or any appurtenance thereto or the cargo being transported therein or thereon, as set forth in paragraph (8) of subsection (a) of Code Section 16-8-12; or

(K) Refusing to submit to a state administered chemical test requested by a law enforcement officer pursuant to Code Section 40-5-55.

(22) “Serious traffic violation” means conviction of any of the following offenses or a conviction of any law or ordinance equivalent thereto in this state, in any other state, or in any foreign jurisdiction, when operating either a commercial motor vehicle or, unless otherwise specified, a noncommercial motor vehicle:

(A) Speeding 15 or more miles per hour above the posted speed limit;

(B) Reckless driving;

(C) Following another vehicle too closely;

(D) Improper or erratic lane change, including failure to signal a lane change;

(E) A violation, arising in connection with a fatal crash, of state law or a local ordinance, relating to motor vehicle traffic control, excluding parking, weight, length, height, and vehicle defect violations, and excluding homicide by vehicle as defined in Code Section 40-6-393;

(F) A railroad grade crossing violation in a noncommercial motor vehicle;

(G) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without obtaining a commercial driver’s license;

(H) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver’s license in the driver’s immediate possession, and excluding such violations when the person’s commercial driver’s license or commercial driving privilege is suspended, revoked, canceled, or disqualified; or

(I) Driving a commercial motor vehicle without a commercial driver’s license of the proper class and endorsements for the specific vehicle being operated or for the passengers or type of cargo transported.

Georgia CDL Traffic Ticket Suspensions

Because CDL holders are held to a higher standard, a minor traffic ticket for a driver becomes something bigger for a commercial driver. There are additional penalties for traffic violations, which are classified as “serious” and “major.”

A CDL holder who has two “serious” violations in a three-year period receives a 60-day revocation of their license. Three “serious” violations in three years will receive a 120-day revocation. These violations include:

  • Speeding (generally, more than 15mph over the limit)
  • Distracted driving
  • Improper lane changing
  • Following too close
  • Driving without a proper CDL
  • Any violation that results in a fatality

“Major” violations involve more serious offenses, and bring a minimum one-year revocation, and three years for anyone driving a HazMat vehicle. They include:

  • DUI
  • Refusing a chemical test
  • Driving with a revoked CDL
  • Using a motor vehicle in the commission of a felony
  • Leaving the scene of an accident

These violations can also lead to the revocation of a CDL even if the driver was operating a non-commercial vehicle. That means that a CDL holder could have their commercial driver license suspended for tickets that were received in a personal vehicle.

DUI With A CDL

CDL drivers have more strict rules when being charged with a DUI. If driving a commercial motor vehicle, the required blood alcohol content (“BAC”) in order to be charged with DUI per se is 0.4 versus 0.8 for drivers in a non commercial vehicle.

Under Georgia’s Implied Consent law, all drivers are deemed to have consented to taking a state administered chemical test for alcohol if the officer can show probable cause of driving under influence. For CDL holders driving a commercial motor vehicle, an adjudication of refusal to take such a test can result in a suspension of one year for a first refusal and a lifetime suspension for a second refusal.

A first DUI conviction for a commercial driver is an automatic one-year suspension of a CDL. A second DUI will result in lifetime disqualification for a CDL.

Contact Us Today

Our CDL defense lawyers at Goldstein Law Group are often successful at defending your commercial driver license. Call us today for a free consultation.