Quick answer: That white paper is a temporary license, and it lets you drive for 45 days. But 45 is not the number that matters. The number that matters is 10. You have ten days from the arrest to request an MVA hearing or elect the interlock program. Miss that window and your suspension begins on day 46 no matter what you do afterward.
I’m David Waranch, and the ten-day deadline is the one I get calls about too late.
What That Piece of Paper Actually Is
If you refused the breath test, or blew 0.08 or higher, the officer was required by Md. Code, Transp. § 16-205.1 to do four things at once: take your Maryland license, personally hand you an order of suspension, issue you a temporary license, and tell you it is good for 45 days.
So the paper in your pocket is doing two jobs. It is your permission to keep driving, and it is formal notice that the MVA intends to suspend you. Those are separate from your criminal case entirely — the MVA moves on its own track whatever happens in court, which is why a dropped DUI does not automatically save your license.
“I have 45 days to sort this out.” No — you have 10. The statute is explicit: a hearing request made after 10 days “does not extend a temporary license.” You can still ask for a hearing up to day 30 and you will probably get one, but your temporary license dies on day 45 and the suspension runs while you wait. Ten days buys you a hearing and the right to keep driving until it happens. That is the whole difference.
Your Two Options Inside the Ten Days
Option one: request a hearing. You pay the filing fee and ask an administrative law judge to decide whether the suspension should happen at all. Request it within 10 days and the hearing gets scheduled within 45 days, with your temporary license extended until then. This is where the stop, the advice of rights, and the test itself get examined. More on how the per se hearing works.
Option two: elect the interlock program. Instead of fighting it, you surrender your license and elect in writing to join the Ignition Interlock System Program. You keep driving throughout — with a device on your car.
| If your result was… | Interlock election lasts |
|---|---|
| 0.08 to 0.14 | 180 days |
| 0.15 or more | 1 year |
| Refusal | 1 year |
Electing interlock is not surrender in the way it sounds. For a lot of people — particularly anyone who cannot function without a car — it is the rational choice. The point is that both doors close at the same moment, and after ten days one of them is simply gone.
The Work-License Trap Nobody Warns You About
Most people assume that if the suspension lands, they can ask the MVA for a restricted license to get to work and school. Sometimes that is true. Often it is not, and the dividing line catches people badly.
Section 16-205.1 requires the officer to warn you of the sanctions, and it spells out the exception:
“…including ineligibility for modification of a suspension or issuance of a restricted license unless the person participates in the Ignition Interlock System Program … that shall be imposed for refusal to take the test and for test results indicating an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more…”
Read plainly: a work-and-school restricted license is only available if you blew between 0.08 and 0.14. If you refused, or if you blew 0.15 or higher, there is no restricted license. No modification of the suspension either. Interlock is the only way you drive at all. If you refused the test believing you could sort out a work permit later, that assumption was wrong, and it is better to know now than on day 46.
What the Suspension Looks Like If You Do Nothing
| Trigger | First offense | Second or subsequent |
|---|---|---|
| Test result 0.08 or more | 180 days | 180 days |
| Test result 0.15 or more | 180 days | 270 days |
| Refusing the test | 270 days | 2 years |
| 0.08+ in a fatal accident | 6 months | 1 year |
| 0.15+ in a fatal accident | 1 year | Revocation |
Notice that refusing carries a longer suspension than blowing over the limit does. Refusal is not the safe play people imagine it to be, and under § 21-902(g) a knowing refusal can add criminal penalties on top if you are convicted. The full suspension picture is here.
What Happens on Day 46
If you requested a hearing in time, the MVA sends notice extending your temporary license until the hearing date, and you keep driving normally. If you elected interlock, you move onto the program. If you did neither, the temporary license simply expires and the suspension in that order takes effect — no further warning, no second notice. Most people who lose their license this way lose it to a calendar, not to a judge.
One caveat worth naming: the 45-day temporary license applies to drivers licensed in Maryland. If you hold an out-of-state license, the officer cannot confiscate it, and the MVA suspends your privilege to drive in Maryland instead — with knock-on effects in your home state.
If you are inside the ten days, call now — that window does not reopen. If you are past it, call anyway; there is usually still something to be done, and the hearing itself is worth preparing for properly.
Frequently Asked Questions
45 days. The officer issues it when your Maryland license is confiscated, and it expires on day 46 unless you have requested an MVA hearing within 10 days or elected the ignition interlock program. A hearing request made after day 10 does not extend it.
Only if your test result was between 0.08 and 0.14. For a refusal or a result of 0.15 or higher, Maryland law makes you ineligible for a modified suspension or a restricted license unless you participate in the Ignition Interlock System Program. In those cases interlock is the only way to keep driving.
You can still request a hearing up to 30 days after the arrest and will likely get one, but your temporary license is not extended. The suspension begins when the temporary license expires on day 46 and runs while you wait for the hearing date.
Law Offices of David R. Waranch — 301-563-9575 · toll-free 1-877-566-2408. Hablamos Español.
Last updated: August 2026. Statutory references: Md. Code, Transp. §§ 16-205.1, 16-404.1, 21-902(g), 21-902.3. This page is general information about Maryland law, not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.