The dangers of drink-driving, sometimes referred to as dui or dwi, have become much more obvious in recent times, as well as being socially unacceptable, have become a major concern for motorists and safety campaigners and taken much more seriously by lawmakers and law enforcers.
The seriousness with which courts regard any form of drink-driving is reflected in the severity of potential sentences and the consequences that any form of drink-driving may have on the motorist, passengers and anyone potentially involved in any accident.
The practical side of being caught and convicted to any type of drink driving can result in any or all of the following consequences. There is certainly a likelihood or possibility of being sent to jail. This may be a relatively short time and act, or be meant to act, as a real deterrent to doing it again in the future.
This is normally the case if there is no one else involved and has been no real damage done to any third party. The jail sentence will normally reflect an intent to send a message to the person involved. If the drink-driving has resulted in an accident or damages of a serious nature either to an individual or their property or loss of life, then the jail term may be significantly longer.
If the driver involved has already been convicted of a drink-driving offence in the past, then the courts will take an even harsher view and significantly increase, or the likelihood is they will significantly increase the jail term involved. The motorist involved will almost certainly lose the use of their licence for a significant period of time, quite often up to several years. This has a major impact on their lives, and the lives of their family and people who may be dependent on them having a car.
There is likely to be a significant fine as well, the amount will be dependent on the age of the driver as well as any damage that the driver may have caused. This fine will not be covered under the motorists car insurance policy and will need to be paid by them themselves out of their own pocket. In addition, when they do eventually get their licence back their insurance rates will rocket and they will have to pay a substantial loading on their car insurance policy for a long time afterwards.
In addition to the possibility of being sent to prison, there is also a significant chance that the driver will be sent on some type of alcohol safety awareness program. A court may decide to send the driver to Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and can potentially order a number of psychiatric tests if they feel that the mental state the driver is sufficiently unstable to warrant it.
Drink-driving levels are something that are a bit of an anachronism in that they are set by lawmakers as being a top threshold at which it is deemed safe to drive having drunk a small amount of alcohol. In truth the only safe amount of alcohol is no alcohol. Many people accidentally drink slightly more than they should do and often are not aware that they are over what is a relatively low limit when they decide to drive a car. It is a much safer approach to this issue either not drink at all if you're driving, or if you do decide to drink either get someone else to drive you or to use a taxi or a minicab.
Also bear in mind that if you are involved in an accident of any sort, whether it is your fault or not if you have an excess level of alcohol in your bloodstream, then the police and authorities will prosecute and can convict you irrespective of who was at fault or to blame for any accident.
Peter Main is freelance writer who has spent almost twenty years in the insurance industry, working at Lloyd's of London. He writes extensively about car insurance and in particular about how understanding the various factors that make up the cost of peoples car insurance can help significantly reduce costs of their motor policy
