We all know that Drinking Under the Influence is punishable by law. Also, people who drink and drive are risking car accidents, and that is one of the leading problems for fatal injuries. The problem is when people get too relaxed and confident of their driving skills, which might lead them into thinking then having one or two drinks before driving won’t be a problem.
There is a limit that you should know about, and if the police stops and you and find out that you are under influence of drugs or alcohol, you will face a lot of issues. Check out Toronto DUI Lawyer if you live in this city. We are going to introduce you to some unextend ways of how Impaired Driving Charge can impact your life.
There is a Chance For a Civil Lawsuit
The penalty that you will have to pay after getting stopped under the influence of drugs or alcohol is not the only problem that you might face. The situation where you have caused an accident under influence of these substances will also lead to a civil lawsuit. That will make your case even more complicated and can lead to serious consequences.
You will have to deal with both civil lawsuit and criminal charges, which means that you will have to hire both criminal defense attorney and a personal injury lawyer. In case that the accident that you caused under the influence of alcohol and illegal substances led to injuries, there is a chance that you will get both jail sentence and a huge penalty.
Potential Issues With Education and Employment
There will be a record that you won’t be able to erase after causing an accident while drunk. There is a chance that you will lose your job or not be able to get the desired job in case a company has a rule that a person must have a clear criminal record, and that is a common case today. The same is for students.
Most universities has a rule where you can be expelled from school or lose a scholarship because of DUI. Even if there are no criminal charges, there is a high chance that you will lose your driving license at least for a limited period. If you are working on a position that requires having a driving license, you will have to look for another job.
The Insurance Will Become More Expensive
There are some requirements that you will have to meet if you want to get a better deal from your insurance agency. One of the main rules is to have a clear record and accidents. If you are facing DUI, keep in mind that there is a high chance that your insurance agency will terminate the contract.
Also, the next time when you want to get a car insurance, you can expect that the policy will be much more expensive since they will mark you as a high-risk client. Besides that, there is a chance that certain agencies might even refuse to provide you with the insurance.
You Could End Up In Jail
It is crucial to be more responsible when driving. Therefore, one of the biggest risks is to think that having a couple of beers won’t affect your driving capabilities. Besides that, if the police stop you over and find that there is alcohol in your blood, you will face penalties. An even worse situation is if you cause an accident.
Even if it was a light accident without serious injuries, the penalty will be very high. However, repeating the same more than once can even lead to jail time even if you never caused a more serious accident. It depends from state to state, and there is a chance to get more than 6 months in jail for driving under influence, and that penalty can be even higher in case people were injured.
Relations With Friends and Family
One of the first issues that you will have to deal with in your private life is your partner, parents, and other family members. There is no way to make a valid excuse for your behavior, and that can ruin your relationship and relations with your family.
That is especially the case if you make the same problem more than once. Playing around with illegal substances is an even worse case since your partner and family will find out about that in a worst possible way.
If you are married and have kids, the problem will become even worse. Imagine a situation where you have to drive your kids to school every day, but now you are not able to do that because of the penalty and lost driving license. That will put pressure on your partner, and can even lead to divorce.
Issues With Traveling
Another problem that we have to mention is in case that you were planning to go on a vacation. However, you will have to look for alternative way of transport since you are not able to drive. That will make it more challenging, and will also lead to issues with your family. You won’t be able to rent a car as well.
There is also a chance that you won’t be able to travel to another country due to your criminal record. That is especially the case if you need visa approval, which you will fail to get in this case.
Last Words
According to the statistics, more than 50% of car accidents are caused because of DUI. When it comes to Canada, over 80,000 accidents in a year happen because people are driving under influence. You should know that the allowed amount of alcohol in your blood is only 0.08, which means that you cannot have a single glass of bear during the day when you are driving, and not even the night before.
The limits for drugs are also very low. Therefore, the key is to be more responsible. If you are going out and planning to have a drink, use alternatives like taxi or public transport instead of risking high penalties and serious car accidents.