Holidays are great times to relax and three day weekends give us time to catch up on sleep, spend time with our loved ones, and maybe get a few projects completed. But a little too much relaxation mixed with some alcohol and added to driving a vehicle can be a bad cocktail. The result is holiday celebrations can end with a stay in the county jail for Driving Under the Influence (DUI). Since we have Martin Luther King, Jr. Day coming up, now seems like a good time to list the realities of and the law pertaining of a DUI conviction as three day weekends usually have more law enforcement patrols, more sobriety checkpoints, and more DUI arrests:
- If you’re under the age of 18 the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) is .02%. That is barely more than one good sized beer for the average person. Over the age of 18 is .08%;
- If you’re charged with DUI, you will be locked up in jail for at least 4 hours if not more before you go to court (unless you are injured in an accident and must go to the hospital);
- If arrested, odds are you will spend $300.00- $500.00 to post bail;
- If you refuse to permit your blood to be drawn, it is likely that officers will seek a search warrant that will allow the police to hold you down and take it by force (you will lose that battle in the emergency room);
- If you are sentenced to jail in Wilson, Smith, Macon or Trousdale Counties, you will serve your sentence in the regular county jail, not in an alternate facility;
- DUI convictions that involve any alcohol (as opposed to medications) will require an interlock device to get a restricted license. This device is sometimes difficult to use and will cost at least $100.00 per month for monitoring, plus installation fees;
- If you have had a prior DUI conviction in 10 years and you are arrested for a new DUI, you will only be released if a transdermal monitoring device that checks for alcohol is attached to your ankle. It makes it hard to get dates, keep jobs, will rub your skin, and it cost over $100.00 per week;
- Many employers who provide vehicles have contracts with their insurers to not have any employees with DUI convictions, which could result in lost job opportunities or losing your current job;
- Your insurance will go up, a lot;
- Having a prescription for the medication you are accused of driving under the influence of is not a defense;
- DUI convictions never go off your record and, for at least 10 years, they will make any future DUI arrests and convictions much more harmful and disruptive to your life so, if you are enjoying a long weekend, I hope you will be safe, enjoy yourselves, and be blessed!
In defense of the citizen accused,
