I got charged with a Chicago DUI, can I drive?

The short answer is maybe. You are subject to additional conditions in order to be able to drive in Illinois.

If this is your first DUI arrest and you had a valid driver's license, at the time of the arrest, you may be eligbile for a Monitoring Device Driving Program (MDDP).

As a first time DUI offender in Illinois, you may be eligible for driving relief during your Statutory Summary Suspension (SSS) after the 31st day from the effective date. You are eligible to receive a Monitoring Device Driving Permit (MDDP) from the secretary of state. This permit will allow you to drive to any location at anytime during your suspension with the requirement that you drive a car equipped with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device (BAIID). You may opt to not participate in the BAIID program, but you will not be eligible for any other driving relief during your SSS. If you opt out of the program and are subsequently caught driving during your SSS, you will be guilty of a class 4 felony.

Ineligibility

• You are ineligible for an MDDP if your driver’s license was otherwise invalid at the time of the DUI arrest


• You are ineligible for an MDDP if death or great bodily harm resulted from this DUI arrest


• You are ineligible for an MDDP if you have previously been convicted of reckless homicide or aggravated DUI, which resulted in a death


• A MDDP will not allow a CDL holder to operate a CMV during the SSS


• If you failed a chemical test or refused a chemical test for DUI in the past 5 years (not including this arrest)

All of this and much, much more await you just for being charged with a Chicago DUI.