What are the Results of Getting a DUI?

Frequently, the matter of "what are the ramifications of getting a DUI?" comes into question subsequent to a person's having been arrested for driving under the influence. Perhaps it is apparent, but the results of drunk driving are very serious, including but not limited to heavy fines, jail time and suspension of the driver's license.

Whenever you have been drinking and are determined to drive yourself home even though you have had too many drinks, you certainly put yourself in danger of being stopped by the police and arrested for driving under the influence. The evidence against a driver who is finally arrested for DUI really begins prior to the law enforcement officer's stopping the suspect. Whether the officer has been advised of a possible drunk driver or is trailing someone he thinks has been drinking, he will commence videotaping and taking note of the individual's driving habits prior to pulling that person over for suspected driving under the influence.

After the officer eventually makes you pull over, he will come up to your vehicle and make the obvious inquiry as to whether or not you have been drinking. As this happens the officer is finalizing the matter of probable cause. Many people who have indeed been drinking will invariably reply to that question by stating "I have had a drink or two" or something along those lines.

Of course, the officer had already identified you as a possible drunk driver long before he initiated the stop. When you let him know that you have taken a few drinks, he has all that is necessary to complete the establishment of probable cause and request that you perform field sobriety testing and a breathalyzer test. Most people are unaware that the standardized field sobriety tests which the officer requests that you take are totally voluntary, however the officer will not make that fact known to you.

On the other hand, the initial breathalyzer test, otherwise referred to as the PBT, is compulsory. The refusal to take this test is seen as an admission of guilt, since if one had not been drinking, there would be no reason to refuse the preliminary breathalyzer test. In a majority of the states, should an individual not agree to take the PBT, his driver's license is automatically suspended or revoked and, should he eventually be adjudicated, or found guilty of driving under the influence, he will not be capable of getting a restricted driver's license.

Let's assume for a moment that you had been out with friends, had a couple of drinks and chose to drive back home as you felt in good shape and anyway, your house was only a couple of miles from the bar. On the way you have the misfortune of being pulled over by a law enforcement officer on suspicion of DUI. You take the preliminary breathalyzer test and it returns a reading that your blood alcohol concentration is .07%, beneath the legal limit.

It would have been completely legal for you to drive home as your BAC showed as being beneath the legal limit and you would have been home long before your BAC exceeded the legal limit, but the officer has, by virtue of your taking the test, determined that you are approaching the legal limit. It is probable that you will spend about an hour at the location where you were pulled over before the officer transports you to the police station, at which time you will be required to take the official chemical test. In the interim, your blood alcohol concentration continues to rise.

So, when you finally have to take the official chemical test, your BAC has increased to .08% or more, which puts you over the legal limit and you are officially charged with the offense of DUI. Should you be a first time offender and dependent upon the state laws, you are looking at possible incarceration of from twenty-four hours to over a year. In addition, first offense fines may vary from a couple hundred dollars into the thousands of dollars. Enlisting the services of a seasoned DUI attorney as your representation in court will run somewhere between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on your state and the difficulty of your case.

Putting all the monetary costs aside, the greatest impact upon your life quite possibly is the suspension or revocation of your driver's license by the Department of Motor Vehicles. Prior to the reinstatement of your license or your being able to obtain a restricted license, you must prove to the DMV that you have gotten an SR22 insurance policy which is valid in your state. And then you must maintain your SR22 insurance in effect for three years. The monthly premium for an SR22 insurance policy for a DUI offender will be somewhere between three and five times the premium the individual was paying for normal automobile insurance prior to his arrest for driving under the influence.

It is important for you to understand your state's DUI legislation together with the potential ramifications with which you will have to deal with should you be arrested for drunk driving, as these DUI laws vary from state to state. Further, it is possible that you will be ordered to install an ignition interlock device in your vehicle prior to being eligible for the reinstatement of your driver's license.

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