We all like to have a little fun by going to parties and enjoying food and drinks with family and friends. But you cross the line when you’ve had too much and you get behind the wheel of a car under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
When you do this, your driving skills are impaired and you are a threat to the entire driving population. This is why getting pulled over for driving while drunk or high on drugs comes with a criminal charge and an enormous increase in auto insurance costs. You have become a health and safety risk to society.
And while everyone needs to be forgiven when they make a mistake, DUIs and DWIs are very difficult to shake. How long does a DUI stay on your insurance? Do the DUI rules differ by state or area code in the U.S.?
We’ll talk about all the little details of getting pulled over for these charges and how you can educate yourself on the limitations of driving under the influence. We’ll also give a few tips to avoid these problems with the law.
Forgotten Drunk Driving Restrictions
You need to be aware that the blood alcohol level that gets you charged in every state in this country is 0.08%. Some states used to have lower restrictions, causing regularly drunk drivers to go and drink in a different state that allowed a higher blood alcohol level.
There are still regulations and laws that are unique to certain areas. In Michigan and South Dakota, you will be tested for drunk driving under any suspicion by an officer. When it comes to determining fault, in Georgia, Murphylawyer.com explains that punitive damages can be awarded to victims when the person who caused the drunk driving accident showed a “reckless indifference to the consequences.” In California, proof of driving is required for a DUI conviction, where in other states, being in “actual physical control” of a vehicle is enough.
One thing for certain is no matter where you are, an insurance company will penalize you by filing drunk driving claims. It can take years to overcome these issues, and some people even hire lawyers after a car accident to fight the charges they received.
Educate yourself on what you are allowed to do as far as driving after a night out on the town. Find solutions before tragedy strikes and you get a history of accidents on your driving record.
How to Overcome Drinking and Driving
A good rule of thumb for figuring out how many drinks is too many to drive: Any drinks at all is too many. If you want to make sure you are completely capable of driving a vehicle, just don’t put any alcohol in your body beforehand.
Driving is a serious subject, and it’s probably the most dangerous thing you do on any given day. The laws are going to continue to increase in severity for drunk driving as well as other road regulations (getting in trouble for building a snowman on your car? Yup, that’s definitely a thing now).
Give the task at hand the respect it deserves. You shouldn’t really need to study all the rules of driving drunk because you are setting yourself up to do something very stupid and irresponsible. If you do educate yourself, know that these laws are in place to keep you and your fellow drivers safe. That isn’t so hard now, is it?
Shawn Laib writes and researches for the auto insurance comparison site, Insurantly.com. He wants to keep drivers safe and help them avoid charges like drunk driving.
