Vehicles: reckless driving: suspension of licenses.

Existing law requires a person's driving privilege to be suspended upon conviction of specified driving-under-the-influence (DUI) offenses for one year. Existing law terminates the licensing suspension if certain conditions are met, including if the person is eligible to apply for a restricted license. Under existing law, a person who drives a vehicle upon a highway in willful or wanton disregard for the safety of a person or property is guilty of reckless driving. Existing law provides that, when a person is charged with, and pleads guilty or nolo contendere to, reckless driving in satisfaction of, or as a substitute for, an original charge for a DUI, and the court accepts the plea of guilty or nolo contendere, the conviction is a prior offense for purposes of specified laws relating to punishments imposed for DUI convictions. This bill would terminate a driver's license suspension, and make the person eligible for a restricted driver's license, for a person convicted of reckless driving in satisfaction of, or substitute for, an original charge of driving-under-the-influence, if certain conditions are met, including that the person complete a 90-day suspension period and install an ignition interlock device. The bill would require the department to advise the person of the above conditions. The bill would require that the restricted driver's license privilege be subject to certain restrictions, including, among other things, that upon receipt of notification from the installer that a person has attempted to remove, bypass, or tamper with the ignition interlock device, the privilege to operate a motor vehicle shall immediately be suspended. The bill would make other technical and conforming changes to these provisions.