CAPTAINZING2000

Some things you should know

DUI/DWI | National Motorists Association Blog

Pinkcuda

DUIs are a profitable industry. If they cost $10,000.00 why does $8,000.00 of that money go to the people that actually want you to get a DUI? Lawyers rake in a ton of money. They want you to get one. Alcohol Counselors rake in the bucks too. They want you to get one. Insurance Companies use it as an excuse to raise your premiums. Big Bucks there too. I estimated that $281,000,000.00 each year in Colorado alone goes into the pockets of people that want you to drink and drive. The ones that want to stop you from doing it are left fighting over the crumbs.
Seems like the ones with a moral conscience are getting the short end of the stick on this one.

CAPTAINZING2000

Doesn't Seem Like They're Encouraging People To Go To Aa Like They Did When, I First Got Sober

collinsmi

Me thinking about the legal system....... surely no good can come of this .

Signal30

Unfortunately insurance agencies and defense attorneys make a lot of money off those arrested for DUI.


However, why is it illegal? Because funeral directors hope that loved ones don't want an open casket on a loved on that had half their head peeled off from the auto accident.

The ones who suffer the most from DUI's are the loved ones from victims killed by the drunk driver.

I still get flashbacks from a accident scene I responded to years ago where this young couples heads and brain matter were scattered all over the inside of the vehicle, the road, and the other vehicles windshield. The person who hit them was a drunk driver. He only had a minor head wound. The couple killed had their seat belts on. Seat belts are useless when a car hits another car head on at about 85 MPH over riding the vehicle, and sheering off the top and parts of their heads. The victims had two children, (not in the vehicle).

Sorry if that sounds morbid. I will always have that accident scene burned into my head forever.

Oddly enough when I helped investigate that accident, it was during my drinking days. Even that wasn't enough to get me to quit drinking. Cunning, baffeling, and powerful.



Tom

possiblyNuts

Back in 2005 when I got my first (and only) d.u.i. my probation officer made it mandatory for my to get counseling. She even had a list of places that she found were 'acceptable.' AA was unacceptable to her, and even several cheaper treatment centers then the ones she 'recommended' she also found unacceptable. The four places that she basically told me were my only option to goto each cost several hundred dollars a week. I still believe that she was getting kickbacks from forcing people to goto these specific treatment centers.

CAPTAINZING2000

It's mandatory for DUI offenders to go to alcohol counseling here in IL.

They've passed a new law that first time offenders now have to get a machine installed into to their vehicle to drive.

Brings new meaning to the term drive hammered and get nailed !!!

Texasblind

I firmly believe there are kickbacks all over the place in the DUI legal industry. Why do I hear every day about someone getting their thirteenth! DUI in New Mexico. NM has got the worst DUI problem in the country, yet the jails or system or whatever just keeps letting these guys off with a fine. No time, a fine. It only stands to reason that somebody's making some money. Why else would they keep letting chronic offenders out?

That being said. Driving while intoxicated is absolutely wrong. The system might be f'd up, but that's not an excuse. Thank god I never got one.

SF69

I'm going through this right now with my first DUI (my wake-up call from my HP, I thank Him daily that I didn't hurt or kill anyone). Once it's all said and done with the lawyer fees, fines, and other program fees, it's going to cost me $3,000 - $4,000, not to mention how much my auto insurance will go up.

Sure, I'm not happy about it, regardless whether or not it's all a scheme of the DUI industry. I just hope that if I should ever have a relapse, that I'll remember how bad this is financially (and otherwise), and how much worse it would be a second time, that it will deter me from ever driving drunk again.

But saying that, it's amazing how many multiple DUI offenders there are. So who knows...

Angus3000

I got two DUIs roughly 10 years apart. When I got the second one I had to have an interlock device installed on my car. I'll say this - it cured me of drinking & driving. I didn't stop drinking, I just waited until I got home and stayed out of bars.

When I finally decided to quit is when I looked in the mirror and asked myself what about my life I was happy with and I couldn't come up with a single thing. I realized that unless I quit drinking I might as well kill myself imediately because all I was doing was killing myself slowly each time I took a drink. I didn't quit because I wanted to - I didn't want to. I wanted to keep on partying. Then I looked in the mirror again and realized it wasn't a party anymore - it was hell on earth. It's tough for me every day, but I'm working on it.

possiblyNuts

At least 3,000 to 4,000. From the yearly fines alone it has already cost me 3,000 dollars. (Here in Texas for a first time offender you have to pay 1,000 dollars every year for three years to the D.P.S.) Plus the money I spent to the probation officer, and for my lawyer. If I had actually conceded and gone to the treatment that my probation officer was requiring, it would have cost me over nine thousand dollars when everything was done with. Ugh, at least I've learned my lesson. I'll definitely never consider driving under the influence *ever* again. And I've told everyone I know about what I've been through, so hopefully my experience has rubbed off on them.

kpr27

I've done a lot of crazy things while drinking but I never drive. Last week, my friend, well ex-boyfriend, promised to be the designated driver when a bunch of us went out to a club. Over the course of the evening we got in an argument and he left. My car was in a tow zone if left over night and i normally would call a cab if intoxicated, but I had to move the car to a different spot. I smacked right into a police car when I tried to go to move it to the over night parking garage. Not a pleasant way to end the evening.

lostmdboy

Hey I got an idea. Eveyone QUIT driving drunk, and all these people getting rich will go some where else. HEY!! Maybe some people that where inocently driving home will live a little while longer too.

lostmdboy

Here is one vidio that may affect your feelings that people are being persicuted by dui laws, and there effects. Some people do not die, but at some point I bet they wished the would.
YouTube - Drunk Driving - Eric Mickel

Texasblind

My position is people should ABSOLUTELY NOT drink and drive. I deeply regret every time I did it, and thank HP every day I never hurt anyone.

However, I think the solution is in things like InterLock and more enforcement. Not gigantic fines. If fines were the solution, then why does the average NM DUI offender have 3 convictions? I couldn't afford that. We have free ride services all over the place. You can call from anywhere and get a ride, not just a bar. Yet, it still happens almost every night. There is a bigger problem out there and I feel the system must be changed.

Pinkcuda

If I was still drinking I would be drinking and driving. There's no doubt in my mind. I've had 3 DUIs and it didn't stop me. I wouldn't expect that a billboard or a cross on the side of the road would have stopped me either.
Part of the deal in sobriety is that I get to make my amends to society by not doing it again. I've managed to get one drunk off the road and no lives were lost in the process. I'm O.K. with that.

sugErspun

Well - alcoholics will continue to drink regardless of the conesequences. That may explain why enforcement, interlock devices, fines, jail time are all in place and people still do crazy things when drunk - like driving a car, and continue to drink even though it leads to crazy things.

The solution for me was not based on human power.

We are talking about alcoholism here right?


Pinkcuda - hit the nail on the head.

CAPTAINZING2000

I live in a rural community
There is no public transportation. Really creates a hardship for everyone when, a family member gets a DUI

Texasblind

That is a very good point. I guess I forget the inner struggle sometimes. Especially since I'm new in my sobriety.

kelsh

These are designed to keep the DUI's from continuing but they work only as good as the drunk driver is commited to using them. :codiepolice

The Interlock System costs money...has to be installed by a special mechanic
that knows how to do it and can be undone by the alcoholic if he has any comprehension of mechanics or knows someone that knows how to do it.

My brother had one for two years...it was disconnected for almost the whole two years...then he got stopped again and this time did a month in jail + the huge fine of $2,500.00 cash...no bail for this.

While working with the Alcohol Program, when I worked for Mental Health, we had people that would try to get the ankle bracelet off but it was too difficult. If the police department or sheriff's office neglected to monitor often enough the client would have someone buy alcohol for at night.

Usually the client had to go to the jail each day of the months on the ankle bracelet monitoring to pay the $11.00 a day it cost to have the privilege to be home rather in jail....here you pay for your days in jail too, if you are on work release & go to your job during work hours & back to jail right after work.

They also have a drug/alcohol court tied in with the alcohol program at the Behavioral Health Office and have to do a UA as specified by their particular treatment plan. It is a good program and people are making progress...it also includes AA into the program to be able to be deferred the two years & keep their driver's license. :sorry

For some reason unknown, I never got stopped...I should have many times. I have never had a ticket except one parking ticket. It seemed I saw more cops when driving sober than I ever did driving after drinking.

I am so glad those days are gone. As to whether someone gets the program or not or is or isn't able to stay sober it is up to them...but I know of some people that wanted to be sober more than anything else but couldn't stay sober and eventually died from complications with their alcoholism.

It would horrify most people if they knew how many people die in nursing homes from complications from alcoholism/ and other drugs...even prescription
and over the counter drug abuse. I worked with these elders and they would share their stories with me...I would be asked to go see them for their depression and grieving issues. It was sad.

kelsh