Being charged with a DUI can impact your life in a number of ways. Here are some of the financial consequences to be aware of in the event you find yourself in a situation where you want to drive after having some drinks.
Your Career
The first way in which a DUI will impact your life is concerning your career. That’s because when you’re charged with drinking while under the influence, you end up in the criminal justice system. It’s even more serious if the DUI results in injuries or fatalities, which you can never predict could be the outcome.
There are a number of industries that simply won’t hire someone with a criminal history, regardless of how minor it may seem. One of these is law enforcement, which is a sensitive field and one in which you need to be an upright and reliable citizen to be considered. This is because there’s a lot at stake in this field, as is evidenced by the fact that 93% of 8,000 police officers have become more concerned about the dangers of the job.
Your Lifestyle
Your lifestyle could also be impacted by a DUI charge in a number of ways. One of these is the most obvious one, since you may not be in a position to drive yourself to the places that you need to be, during the case and if you’re found guilty in the end. Keep in mind that the police must be in a position to demonstrate that they pulled you over based on what was reasonable suspicion that you were in violation of the law in order to charge you with a DUI. While the law may be a little different from one state to the next, the details remain more or less the same.
Your Finances
Don’t forget that your finances are bound to be impacted by a DUI charge. That’s because a DUI charge can lead to being fined up to thousands of dollars in addition to suspension of your license and facing about 2.5 years in prison. You’ll have to pay for legal representation if you want to increase your odds of getting a fair outcome from the case. You may also be fired from your current job, leaving you without a source of income and possibly unable to apply for another job. All of these results can leave you struggling to stay afloat and cause you considerable trouble that could have been avoided by simply not driving while under the influence.
Your Personal Relationships
Finally, a DUI charge could impact your personal relationships negatively, leaving your ties to the people that you know strained. While it may be possible for you to reverse the damage, it could take a lot of explaining, with the outcome depending on the severity of the outcome of your DUI. If you have children, they may be exposed to a side of you that doesn’t do a lot towards setting a great example for them to follow. Given the fact that other areas of your life will also be impacted, it could take considerable work for you to safeguard yourself from the fallout while repairing damage to your relationships effectively.
These are some of the main ways in which a DUI will impact your life. It’s clearly best to avoid ending up getting charged with one. That’s because, in addition to being a criminal offense, driving while under the influence has serious potential repercussions on your health and life as well as that of other people.