Don’t Let Your Business Be A Scapegoat
What if an employee were arrested for DUI, and found a way to legally implicate your business as the responsible party? Their activity is their own, but with the economy how it is, and the litigious nature of modern society, it’s possible they would be clever enough to point the finger and get away with it.
When you consider the exceptional severity of DUI laws in Colorado, there is definitely incentive for an individual to find any way possible that the buck may be passed. A person’s entire life can be turned upside-down by a DUI, and in ways that many could argue are fundamentally antithetical to American values. Offsetting such requires criminal defense solutions.
DUIs are serious business in Colorado. According to SchwanerLaw.com, one reason you need a Colorado DUI lawyer is that: “Colorado’s intoxicated driving laws are among the nation’s strictest, both in terms of penalties and in terms of the maximum amount of alcohol that can legally be in your system while driving.”
Costs Associated With A Colorado DUI
Just consider some of the associated costs. Over the course of three to five years, for the most minimal DUI you can expect to pay $10,000 or more, easily. Here’s how that works out. Initially, there is jail-time involved for the person found to be driving while intoxicated. Unless they can get a ride, they’ll be spending the night in jail.
A night in the clink is a night of lost productivity, and likely a subsequent missed day at work; which can be worth anywhere from $50 to $100. From there, the conviction of the DUI is usually decided within several months, and the fallout from that conviction ensues.
If you want to remain driving, your best bet is to accept a temporary restriction of about a month, followed by a minimum of six months driving under the “safety” of an “interlock” device. Such devices restrict your car from starting if alcohol is detected on the breath. The device costs a certain amount to install, and a certain amount monthly.
Usually installation is something like $175, and the monthly charge is about $75. Removing the device likewise costs $150 to $200, depending. Then, on top of that, those convicted of a DUI must attend twelve $20 courses, or “group therapy” sessions. They’ll have to check in and blow in a tube at between $5 and $10 a week as well.
From there, you’ll have a MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) panel, which is usually between $20 and $50, depending. Additionally, non-severe first offenders will have to take a urine analysis test for $20 a month, and see an officer at RMOMS, the Rocky Mountain Offender Management System, for $50. All this is in addition to a fine that, at the low end, is $750.
Subsequent Costs That Continue After Probation
After that, you’ve got insurance costs. An SR-22 must be added to a license for a period of three years. That SR-22 is not cheap. It will be $10 to $75 a month, which translates to an additional yearly charge of between $120 and $900 a year; for a total of between $360 and $2,700 over the course of three years.
Now all these charges are at the minimum level, and apply to a first offense at near the lowest level of consequence. You can expect additional charges for second and third offenders.
As you can see, the incentive to “pass the buck” legally is very high. But, in contrast, a lawyer can often get a DUI charge dismissed for between $1,000 and $5,000, depending. If there’s a chance of dismissal, it’s worth getting a lawyer for a DUI.
