DUI stands for ”Driving Under the Influence”. It is often synonymous with drunken driving, but a DUI charge doesn’t need to be alcohol related. You can be charged with a DUI if caught driving under the influence of any substance that can impair your ability to operate your vehicle, be it a prescription drug, an over the counter medication, or illicit drug. Furthermore, you don’t even have to be driving a motor vehicle. You can be cited for a DUI for sitting in the drivers seat of a parked car, and in most states, you can even be cited for a DIU for riding a horse, or a riding lawn mower while intoxicated! If you operate a boat on a federal waterway (i.e. Lake Mead) while intoxicated, you can be charged with a Federal Crime, and sent to Federal Prison.
With all of the drastic consequences, why would anyone join the ranks of DUI Offenders?
There could be any number of reasons. You went to a pub, then got in the cars and headed back. You took your cold medications and had to get to work. You had plans to get taxi back but someone else needs to get home and you don’t have enough money to get the taxi for both of you so you give him the money and then drive home. You could have not expected to get drunk or don’t know your drunk. You could have gone to party not drunken anything but be confronted with the offer of drugs and taken it. You could live right next to the bar and would have walked home but your friend was much drunker then you were so you had to drive them home. There are probably dozens of other reasons. It is safe to say that few people intentionally drive when they think that they are unable to safely operate a vehicle.
Simply put though, the law is the law and you may have broken it. Now you have got to live with the consequences, doesn’t matter if your motive was noble or not. It sucks and for some it might not be fair but it’s just the way it is.
Now just because you may have been charged with a DUI obviously does not mean the you are guilty of breaking any law. You have rights under the law, and you are entitled to every protection of the system.
You do not have to join the ranks of DUI convicts, who lose their driving licenses, pay exorbitant insurance premiums, and often even lose their jobs.
Follow this link to the DUI Offenders website to learn what you can do to protect your rights.