Drinking and Driving
Having a glass or two of wine with dinner doesn’t seem like it could lead to a DUI. However, the blood alcohol level that indicated being under the influence has changed dramatically. This means that depending on you body’s metabolism, two glasses of wine could cause you to have a blood alcohol level that reads as intoxicated. If this happens, there is a snowball effect that will ultimately affect not only your driving privileges but ultimately the cost and availability of car insurance.
If you receive a DUI you will find that your insurance options change dramatically. The information contained herein will hopefully be enough to make you reconsider that second glass of wine or at least wait until you get home to have it.
Rate Increase
Although the rate increase might not be seen immediately, when the insurance renewal period comes up it will go up in price drastically, if the company will even continue to offer insurance. Some car insurance companies do not cover DUIs and so you might have to find another company.
Additionally, depending on the state that you live in, you may be required to carry special insurance that is for people who have DUIs on their driving record. If this is the case, the insurance premium you pay will go up immediately, you won’t have the luxury of waiting for the renewal .
The amount that the insurance will increase varies from state to state and from company to company. If you have one DUI on your record you could see anywhere from a 30% to a 50% percent increase. If you have more than one, you can count on the increase being on the high side.
Length of Penalty
Once you have a DUI on your driving record you can count on it being on there for varying amounts of time, depending on what state you live in, it can be as short as a few years all the way up to a life time. For example, DUIs stay on your driving record for 10 years in California but forever in Alaska. This also means that your insurance rates will remain high for the entire time that the DUI is on your record. The bad news is that there is no in-between period when rates are decreasing, they stay high until the DUI is gone.
What Can Be Done
All hope is not gone. Yes, if you get a DUI you will have higher rates and your current insurance company may cancel your policy. This doesn’t mean that you can’t get car insurance, it simply means that you will have to do your research and find a company that offers insurance for high risk drivers.
There are auto insurance companies that specialize in DUI and other high risk cases. These companies can give you a better rate and possibly even set up payment options that make it easier for you to pay for your insurance. These companies know that some people simply made one bad decision and that they need to be able to drive to get to work.
The First Step
If you have a DUI there are some steps that you should take as soon as possible after receiving the ticket. The first one is to contact an attorney, You will most likely need an attorney to help you maneuver the legal system and help you understand the laws in your state. In some states you are required to surrender your driving license as soon as you are ticketed for drunk driving or at the least provide proof of DUI insurance. An attorney can help with this step by asking that you be granted a provisional license until your court date.
You should also start pricing insurance plans for DUI and high risk drivers. If you plead guilty or are found guilty you will need to have this to be able to drive. You should start out checking with major insurance companies and narrow it down to specialized companies in order to get a broader array of prices. Depending on whether it is the first offense or not, you may be able to find reasonable prices with the bigger companies or you may have to go with specialized companies.
If you have the unfortunate luck to have more than one DUI, you are going to have a more complicated process. You will need to take extra steps to show that you are serious about keeping your driving priveleges such as seeking treatment options. You may not have a problem; however, if you show the court that you are controlling your drinking you stand a better chance of leniency.
Ultimately, you should never drink and get behind the wheel of a car; however, with the blood alcohol level for intoxication being lower than ever, it is possible to get a DUI and not be obviously drunk. Should this happen, you will need to find an attorney and good insurance for DUI offenders.