Driving is a privilege, not a right.  However once you are granted the privilege to drive a car, the government cannot take that away from you without due process.  In other words, you have the right to challenge the statutory summary suspension by filing a petition in court and demanding a hearing.

Once the petition is filed and properly served upon the State’s Attorney, it is the State’s duty to provide you with a hearing within thirty days.  Their failure to do so could result in a due process violation and the return of your driving privileges.

There are several grounds under which you could protest, but the most common is that the police officer did not have reasonable grounds to believe you were driving a car while under the influence.  If that is proved, you will win the hearing.

The hearing on the petition to rescind is civil in nature and the burden is upon the defendant to prove his case.  This is in contrast to the criminal charge of D.U.I. in which it is the State’s burden to prove the defendant guilty.