Helmandollar

After they crashed into one another’s car, plaintiffs

Mark Todd Helmandollar and Almon Smith were charged with, among other things, driving under the influence of alcohol (Veh. Code, § 23152, subd. (a)) and driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more (§ 23152, subd. (b)). The Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) immediately suspended both drivers’ licenses pursuant to section 13353.2, subdivision (a), which provides: “The department shall immediately suspend the privilege of any person to operate a motor vehicle if the person was driving or was in actual physical control of a motor vehicle when the person had 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood.”

Ultimately, pursuant to a comprehensive dispositional agreement, the municipal court acquitted plaintiffs of driving with a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent or more, and plaintiffs pled no contest to one count of alcohol-related reckless driving. (§ 23103.5.) Plaintiffs then attempted and failed to persuade DMV to restore their drivers’ licenses. Thereafter, they filed a petition for writ of mandate in the superior court, seeking to compel DMV to do so. They asserted section 13353.2,…