A friend of mine got a DWI on Halloween night.
She spent a whole day in jail, which was pretty much a cell with the toilet in the middle. After she got bailed out, she put down 1K in cash for her lawyer's first set of fees, 3K. She has no idea how much it will end up costing. She had to install a thing on her car to blow into. It's very scary.
I feel so bad for her. You know what, I'll admit it. I've driven a few times when I shouldn't have. Maybe a few too many times. When she was arrested, the first thing I thought was that it could have been me.
That said, in the last couple months, we've really felt our age when it comes to liquor. So we've been cabbing it quite a bit (which is difficult, expensive, and inconvenient in Texas). I'd say we've spent about $50/month on cabs. Suddenly, that seems like the smartest $50 I've ever spent.
My friend is a grad student. I feel so bad for her. It's one thing to hang on to your job in a bad situation like this. It's another to have a freaking DWI going on in the worst economy ever when there are a billion other people just like you when you apply for the only job in the state.
So, don't drink and drive, kids.
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22 comments:
Drinking and driving is baaaad! I hope she learned her lesson.
What's funny is that you mention the economy, someone's educational status, money, and a device on a car. Everything is mentioned except the fact that someone could have gotten killed. You seem to feel sorry for many aspects of this situation except the most obvious.
I don't feel sorry for her. Just like I don't feel sorry for any of my friends who got DUI's.
I'm an adult - I like to go out, but unless I have a dd or a cab, I have a drink or two the entire night, then soda.
She's and adult and knows better. And now she has to deal with the very expensive consequences. Lucky for the rest of us she didn't kill anyone.
I don't feel bad for your friend at all. She drank and drove, she put herself and others at risk, and she got caught.
As I am teaching my 5 year old. Choose the behavior, you choose the consequences.
Good for you with the cabbing. There are dollar and career costs but, more importantly, costs to innocent people who may be hurt by the impaired driver. It's much better to be safe than sorry.
Ouch! 3K for a DWI plus a night in jail and other ramifications makes $50 looks like nothing!
It is hard to feel sorry for someone who made a conscious decision to put others in harms way...my son was hit almost head on by a drunk driver, car thrown down a 50 foot embankment, unconscious for over 30 minutes (his date thought he was dead) and it took EMT 45 minutes to get them out of the car - luckily he and his date escaped with minimal (and I use that term lightly) injuries...this post angers me...why in the he** would you even begin to feel sorry for a friend that could have caused something like this or much worse. It is not like everyone is uninformed nowadays...get a DD, a cab, call a friend...there is no excuse and the money isn't the issue here!!!
And what no one else mentioned... it's ILLEGAL!
I have no sympathy for her. She was irresponsible, put others lives at risk (was anyone else in the car with her?) and she broke the law.
She has bigger problems than her money woes over this... clearly she lacks good judgement.
It sucks that it happened but she needs to face the consequences of her bad decision.
In Washington State, I think it costs around $10,000 (as a rough round figure) for court and lawyer fees, etc., for a DUI. I had to go through alcohol server training since I worked in a restaurant and served alcohol 2 years ago, and they said it costs about that much. Not sure how much more a DWI would be (I think that's more serious). However, it may be different in Texas than Washington.
I rely too heavily on boyfriends, who normally have a significantly higher tolerance for alcohol, to drive when I might have too much (which isn't often!). My current bf is Irish and can really put it away, so when I ask if he can drive, and then doublecheck, "are you *really* sure you're ok to drive?" and he says "yes" again, then I go with it.
Definitely smart spending to get a cab! Keep it up!
Stinks for your friend. Hopefully lesson's been learned and her attorney's fees will be money well-spent.
This doesn't reflect very highly on my character, but the thought of having to shell out for attorney's fees is a far better deterrent to me drinking and driving than the thought that it's illegal or that I might hurt someone. Then again, I'm a crappy driver sober. I take the risk that I might hurt someone every time I get on the road. I'm working on those driving skills though.
Of course you've done it! We've ALL done it. And we're ALL just darn lucky someone didn't get killed while we were drinking and driving. Fortunately, I live in a city with great public transportation and I live in an inner city neighborhood where the transportation runs until early in the morning. These days, if I drink at all, I don't drive.
Seriously? You feel bad? The brother of a friend of mine in college ended up killing someone driving drunk. He was a lawyer and got disbarred. He went to jail. He ruined his life. We stopped speaking because she couldn't understand that I had no sympathy for him. Personally, I think your friend got off easy. If I made the rules, she would be in jail and not be able to get her license renewed. DUI/DWI laws are not strict enough.
It can end up much more then that. My fiancé last yer got a DUI and we spent over 7500 on lawyers an still got charged. Add on another 2500 in fines. A criminal charge. And restricted liscense for a year. For two drinks. definitely not even close to falling on you butt drunk driving like most people picture. Pretty excessive if you ask me. All these people who say shame on her are just lucky it never happened to them. No honest person can say they never once attended a work happy hour, had a drink and drove home afterwards.
Wow. Comments are at both extremes. I recently went to watch a trial in our city court and two people who had been ticketed for DUI (separate cases) pled guilty. The judge asked if they had seen a lawyer and they said no. Judge postponed their trial for 30 days more to see a lawyer.
Looks like it will cost your friend from $5k to $10k by the time this is over (insurance will go up SIGNIFICANTLY).
I've been trying to scare some people into stopping Driving While Texting, with the logic that if they are in an accident, whether it's their fault or not, they will be sued for $1m. Same goes for DWI.
My wife is terrified of DWI. She's a teacher and would lose her certificate. She won't even drink one if she's driving.
I feel for your friend. But the consequences are definitley known ahead of time and they should have known better. Maybe the story can educate some others.
That makes no sense, why would she have to install a device to blow in to?? she just got arrested Saturday night. In Texas her trail won't be for another year or two.
@HS I'm not sure I think it was part of her bail.
If you are over a certain limit (Usually .1) they will have ingnition lock as a bail requirement. Which I don't really have sympathy for people who cross over this point. Then it should be obvious you are cooked.
Its funny. My experience with insurance is it actually went DOWN when switching companies after a DUI.
uh Grace, actually we haven't all done it.
My best friend and her entire family were killed by a drunk driver when I was 7.
Even if that hadn't happened in my past I don't believe I would ever do it.
I get a taxi if I want to drink, otherwise I don't even have one drink. I'm not alone among my friends either.
I've certainly never done it. I work with families who've had people killed by drink drivers and with the poor emergency workers who have to get the bodies out. I have no sympathy at all for anyone stupid enough to drink drive.
Maybe I've just been indoctrinated by all the stuff I learned in school (I'm 28 now) but I have never had a drink and driven. I can't bear the thought that if I'm in an accident, that I would have to live with the 'what if's of knowing I could have avoided it if I wasn't drinking.
No doubt... that $50.00 was a SMART investment! No 5 to 10k in expenses, insurance rates raised, and more importantly, no ones lives were endangered.
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