The Cost of a DUI
Rick, a friend and coworker, recently pulled in his second DUI in about a year. With legal fees of around $10,000, suspended license, and a criminal record, that first DUI was bad enough. This was a problem. This was going to turn molehills into mountains. He had no trouble getting job interviews, but there was never an offer.
Rick said it was a wake up call, but then he kept drinking. He thought the DUI alone was enough to keep him alert. His second DUI took him from the frying pan into the fire. This meant going to two different courts – one for the recent DUI and another for violating probation on the first. At about $20,000, his bill for this DUI was nearly double.
His sentence for the second DUI was house arrest, meaning an electronic ankle bracelet would restrict him to just work and home. Every moment of his day, his location was tracked by computer. His job had just been abolished, and how would he get another job? His criminal record popped up in every background check required before he could get a job offer.
Fortunately, a friend was able to hire him into a menial position while keeping his background from the company. The job was awful – he described it as “sucking the life out of me.”. But he hung in there because he had no choice.
His job was eliminated after only four months. He then went to court in a different county with a different judge for violation of probation on the first DUI. This judge came down hard on him and sentenced him to six months in jail. Not house arrest – hard-core jail. He be in the same cell with the violent criminals. He was petrified.
His only hope lay in getting a full time job, which would enable him to be in a different jail where everyone was on work-release. This meant he could go to work during the work day and come back to jail nights and weekends. Plus he'd be in jail with other DUI offenders instead of hard-core criminals. If you are in jail, just how do you get a job?? Getting a job had been an uphill battle before the DUI, but with the stakes far higher now he somehow pulled it off.
Rick is doing time now, and going to his job weekdays. He had never imagined that life could be this hard. But Rick sees himself as really lucky. Sitting in jail unable to pay bills or get jobs, many lose everything – cars, homes, friends, all they value. Rick says he will never take all he had for granted again; he had been just drifting through life before.
Before this all happened, he didn't confront that he really was an alcoholic. He always thought, “That can't happen to me.That's the viewpoint right before every DUI.
What would you be facing if you got a DUI? Read about the consequences in the article “Why You Need a DUI Lawyer – Know Your Rights.”
The laws and penalties are different for every state. To find the laws for your state, go to National Substance Abuse Index - the site is organized by state and each state has a section listing the laws and penalties.
Do you know someone else who needs help before getting that DUI? You can change someone's life by stepping in before it's too late. For guidance on where to get help, see
the article “How Helpful is that Helpline? A Guide to Finding Addiction Help on the Internet.”
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Tagged with: Alcoholism • criminal record and job hunt • drinking problem • drunk driving • DUI • DWI • get a job with a dui
Filed under: Inpatient Alcohol Rehab • Outpatient Alcohol Rehab • San Diego Alcohol Addiction Rehab
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