Drinking and driving is a serious offense. It’s one in which you will need the services of a criminal defence law firm since it is not a misdemeanor. Hopefully, you didn’t cause a car accident or do any damage to property or hurt any people through this moment of poor judgment. When you drive impaired, anything can happen.
Once you have been caught and gone through the courts, it is time to pick up the pieces and try to get your life back on track. The sooner you can go through the process, the sooner you can get back to normal. In this article, we will go over what you need to do after you’ve gotten a DUI.
1 – Get into a program
A DUI is a sign of a drinking or drug problem. Even if you think you don’t have a problem because you can usually handle your alcohol, the fact that even that one time it got away from you is a bad sign. It may seem like a lapse of judgment but it usually points to a problem that is at least developing that could easily get out of control.
You may be ordered to undergo treatment for addiction by court’s order as part of the punishment for your DUI. It’s very important to make sure to take the treatment seriously and not just put your time in since it is mandated.
If you are not required to undergo a program then you should consider doing it voluntarily. The more serious that you take the problem the more likely you will get your life back to normal and not risk repeating the offense.
You may have already been having other problems related to your drinking that you can get under control. If your relationships have soured and you are having trouble at work as a result then this is also a sign that your DUI was not an isolated event and you need professional help.
2 – Follow the court’s orders to a T
If this DUI is your first offense, then the court will likely give you a little bit of leeway and not be too harsh if there wasn’t an accident. However, this doesn’t mean that you should take things lightly.
Make sure to follow the orders very carefully and do everything that they say. If you don’t then you risk trouble later on. You’re going to be doing checks with a probation officer and the court will want to see that you are following through on the orders. If you don’t then they can assign some penalties to you that will make it harder to get back on track.
3 – Don’t drive without your license
It is very likely that you are going to lose your license for a period of time. It could be a few months or a year, but regardless of how long it is you have to make sure to not get behind the wheel until you get it back.
If you are caught for any infraction even if it is as benign as having a light out then you will certainly lose your license for a longer period.