Alternative Sentencing: Freeway Cleanup - California DUI Law and Legal Information

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California DUI conviction can bring serious consequences, including fines, driver’s license restrictions, and possible jail time. However, some repercussions of Driving Under the Influence (DUI), or Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) conviction may be avoided through alternative sentencing. Freeway cleanup is one way to earn credit toward a jail sentence and avoid being incarcerated.

California DUI offenders who perform freeway cleanup as part of a DUI sentence join a Caltrans crew as a term of probation. The hours worked with Caltrans are credited toward the amount of time the defendant normally would have spent in jail. The process is known as good time/work time.

Typical Caltrans work includes picking up trash, cutting brush, or removing graffiti from walls along freeways. The day usually begins at 6 a.m. in the parking lot of a Caltrans location, where workers board vans to travel to their work sites. The work day lasts eight hours. Caltrans work is available every day, but weekend slots are in high demand, so it is important to arrive at the pickup site early to ensure a place in line.

Caltrans work is usually hard and dirty work that may leave a DUI offender exhausted at the end of the day. However, for many convicted drunk drivers, freeway cleanup is still preferable to spending time in county jail. The opportunity to sleep at home each night is priceless.

Freeway cleanup and other forms of alternative sentencing are usually offered as a condition of probation. The drunk driving offender must complete the required number of hours by a certain deadline. If the hours are not completed on time, the offender will violate the terms of his or her probation.

Alternative sentencing options such as freeway cleanup may be a viable option to jail for a drunk driving offender. A criminal defense attorney who concentrates on California DUI defense will determine whether alternative sentencing may be available in each individual case.