Business Purposes Only License

Only a representative of the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles (DHSMV) can grant you a hardship or business purposes only license.  Depending on the nature of your suspension, you will need to schedule a hearing for yourself at the Bureau of Administrative Review Office(BAR) in the closest county to your residence.

The BAR office is a special division of the DHSMV whose job it is to conduct administrative hearings to determine whether your driving privileges will be restored.  In hearings other than formal review hearings(that is the hearing following a DUI arrest), attorneys are not able to speak on behalf of their clients.  These hearings are administrative in nature, and as such you are not entitled to have an attorney speak on your behalf on the record.

Hardship hearings are conducted in accordance with DHSMV rules and regulations.  The hearing officer will begin by determining your hardship or business purposes only license eligibility.  Once they run your record they will bring you back to their office and ask you a series of questions regarding your driving record and the reason for your hardship request.  They will then proceed by asking you another series of questions:

• Why do you need a hardship license?
• Who else drives in your household?
• How have you gotten around during your suspension period?
• How did you get here today?
• What did you learn from your class(usually the advanced driver improvement or DUI school)?
• How can they be assured that you will not be back in the same situation?

The hearing officer will then render a decision whether to grant you a business purposes only license.  That license will look almost identical to your old license but will display a certain restriction.  There are two types of restricted licenses that can be granted after the hearing:

C-Business purposes Only License(BPO)

There are 2,814 Florida drivers who have a restriction C on their license (DHSMV, June 18, 2007). A restriction C is commonly referred to as a business purposes only license. Florida State Statute 322.271 (1) (c) 1 defines a BPO restriction as a driving privilege that is limited to any driving necessary to maintain livelihood, including driving to and from work, necessary on-the-job driving, driving for educational purposes, and driving for church or medical purposes.

D-Employment Purposes Only

There are 22,038 Florida drivers who have a restriction D on their license (DHSMV, June 18, 2007).  An employment only restriction is much narrower in scope than a business purposes only license. A license with this restriction only permits driving for employment purposes only. Pursuant to Florida Statute 322.271 (1) (c) 2 the Florida Legislature allows someone to drive a vehicle with this restriction if they are driving to and from work and any necessary on the job driving required by an employer or occupation.

Charged with Violation of a Driver License Restriction

We have represented many individuals who have been cited with violation of a driver’s license restriction.  The restriction could be anything from not having your corrective lenses(Restriction A), violation of a business purposes or employment only restriction(Restriction C or D), or not having the ignition interlock device in your vehicle (Restriction P).  If you are charged with a violation of a driver license restriction, the State Attorney will be charging you with a second degree misdemeanor.  Depending on the reason for your suspension, the State Attorney could be seeking jail time.  This is especially true if your license is suspended for a DUI violation.  Please call our office immediately to discuss your individual situation.  If you get convicted/adjudicated guilty of violating your driver license restriction, the DHSMV will revoke your restriction and suspend your license.

RESTRICTION IS NOT TIME RESTRICTED BUT SCOPE RESTRICTED.  THAT MEANS THAT DEPENDING ON YOUR JOB, YOU CAN DRIVE AT NIGHT AS LONG AS YOU ARE WITHIN YOUR RESTRICTION.