Most people understand that a DUI is a serious conviction. It’s socially stigmatizing, and it will have long term effects on your driving, insurance and even employment. As such, it’s important to know what you might be up for if you expose yourself to a DWI conviction, or have already plead guilty.
Loss of a License
The most common punishment for DUI is a severe fine, but many states like to up the ante by removing your right to drive entirely. Whether by putting a large number of “points” on your license or by revoking it automatically, most states keep you from driving after a DWI. This is because preventing you from legally driving at all will make it difficult for you to drive drunk and get away with it, and also because unlicensed driving statutes are notoriously harsh. Jail time, impounding of the vehicle and painful fines will be put up to keep you from driving, and many states will require you to inform them of any and all cars you might drive so that police can keep a lookout and catch you the moment you try to drive unlicensed.
Increased Insurance Rates
According to Tenn and Tenn, our New Hampshire dwi attorney, f you are convicted of driving while intoxicated, your car insurance rates are guaranteed to go up. Drunk driving is not only inherently dangerous, it shows your insurance company that you are making bad decisions and exposing them to severe financial risk. Even insurance companies that don’t cover damage done to or by drunk driving incidents will nonetheless increase their rates because they believe you can’t be trusted to drive responsibly. Health and life insurance rates may also be increased, because drunk driving is a very dangerous activity and so it exposes those insurance companies to medical bills and death benefits they did not previously have to worry about.
Employment Problems
Most people think that the only way a DWI conviction can keep them from getting a job would be that it would keep them from getting to work if their license was taken away. However, most employers now check the backgrounds of existing and future employees whenever they need to be evaluated, and a DWI conviction may result in not being hired or worse – being fired. This is because drunk driving shows that one lacks the ability to plan ahead and prevent severe consequences from coming up. As such, most companies do not want to hire someone with a DWI conviction, because they believe such a person is too risky to be trusted with company responsibilities and secrets. This is of course much worse for persons who will be expected to drive as part of their employment. Truck and bus drivers will get it the worst, because they are expected to drive responsibly in public.
The best way to avoid a DWI conviction is to not drink and drive in the first place. If you have been drinking, be sure to have a way home. If you think you are impaired, you most certainly are, and should stop driving. If all else fails, get off the road and out of your vehicle, and even think about calling an attorney if you are stuck and can’t drive out of the situation.
Anthony Joseph is a blogger and contributing writer for the law offices of Tenn and Tenn. Since 1951, they have been committed to providing the highest level of client service and trial advocacy. The hallmarks of their strategy include listening to their clients and understanding their objectives, with attention to detail.