Statutory summary suspension — Illinois Permit Test

A chemical test showing a blood-alcohol concentration of .08% or more suspends driving privileges for six months.

This suspension happens before any court date, on the test result alone. It is separate from whatever the conviction brings later.

If a chemical test discloses a BAC of .08% or more or a THC level of either 5 nanograms or more per milliliter of whole blood or 10 nanograms or more per milliliter of other bodily substance, your driving privileges will be suspended for six months.

Refusing to submit to chemical testing suspends Illinois driving privileges for one year.

Refusal costs twice as long as failing. That is deliberate: it is the only thing stopping everybody from refusing.

If you refuse to submit to chemical testing, your driving privileges will be suspended for one year.

A second offender, meaning a driver with a previous statutory summary suspension, an out-of-state refusal, court supervision for DUI or a DUI conviction in the last five years, is suspended for three years for refusing a test and one year for failing it.

Five years is the window that makes somebody a second offender. Inside it, both penalties roughly triple.

If you have a previous statutory summary suspension/revocation from Illinois, a suspension for refusing a chemical test from another state, court supervision for DUI, or a conviction for DUI within the last five years, you are considered a second offender and will have your driving privileges suspended for three years for refusal of chemical testing or one year for failure of chemical testing.

At the time of arrest the officer takes the driver’s license and gives a temporary receipt allowing driving for 45 days, with the statutory summary suspension starting on the 46th day.

The 45 days are the window to challenge it in court. Nothing happens automatically on day one, and everything happens on day 46.

At the time of arrest, the officer will take your driver’s license and, if valid, provide you with a temporary receipt allowing you to drive for 45 days. The statutory summary suspension begins on the 46th day from the notice date provided by the police officer.

A driver who refuses chemical testing after a crash involving serious personal injury or death has their driving privileges revoked for at least one year.

After the worst crashes a refusal brings revocation rather than suspension, which has no end date built into it.

If you refuse to submit to chemical testing after being involved in a crash where serious personal injury or death was involved, your driving privileges will be revoked for a minimum of one year.

How long is the Illinois suspension for failing a chemical test?

Six months. This suspension happens before any court date, on the test result alone. It is separate from whatever the conviction brings later. Illinois Rules of the Road 2026, p.49: “If a chemical test discloses a BAC of .08% or more or a THC level of either 5 nanograms or more per milliliter of whole blood or 10 nanograms or more per milliliter of other bodily substance, your driving privileges will be suspended for six months.”