Every year, drunk drivers cause over 10,000 fatalities. If you add it all up, that’s roughly one death every 48 minutes — and 32% of all traffic deaths in the United States. In other words, the price you could pay for drunk driving might just stay with you the rest of your life in the knowledge of the disasters you’ve caused out on the open road.
But it’s more than guilt. There’s a fairly steep financial cost associated with getting busted for drunk driving in addition to license suspensions and other court-mandated treatment programs for alcohol abuse. In fact, there’s really no set outcomes of getting busted for DUI. When you’re caught, your fate is really just left up to the mercy of the court. It might look a little like this:
Legal Battles and Fees
As soon as you’re booked by a police officer, you’ll want to hire a DUI defense lawyer to handle your case. You’ll likely be summoned to court a week or two after your initial arrest, and if your blood alcohol content was anything over .08, you’re almost guaranteed to be charged with DUI, or driving under the influence. With the charge comes with it a host of possibilities for fines as well as jail time, and when you factor in your DUI lawyer costs, you can expect to pay quite a hefty sum. You can still avoid prison confinement, though, depending on some mitigating factors.
License Suspension or Revocation
Studies show that around a third of all DUI arrests are actually repeat offenders. And if you’ve had your license suspended in the past, it wouldn’t be out of the question to expect total revocation this time. If it’s your first offense, you might only get a few months’ suspension. But no matter how good your DUI defense attorney is, there’s almost a guarantee that you’ll lose your driving privileges at least for a few months. That’s just how it works with DUI charges.
Counseling and Educational Programs
Depending on how good your DUI defense lawyer is, he or she might be able to get you into some alcohol rehab programs in order to avoid any lengthy stays behind bars. Typically, DUI offenders will have around three weeks to enroll in some kind of driving school (as approved by the state) and his or her progress in the program will be tracked by the court. Pending successful completion of both substance abuse counseling and driving instruction, the offender may be able to earn back access to a driver’s license.
Before you get behind the wheel after you’ve had a few drinks, ask yourself: What’s this ride worth in the long run? For more information, read this website: www.gandgcriminaldefense.com