DUI ! - please help !

I need a little advice from the peoples w/ experience around here, please...

Last night I did something stupid. DUI

I know laws are different in each state, but theres some common guidlines.

Heres the Sit-Rep

I was driving drunk just around the neighborhood. I was 1/2 a mile from home. Totally stupid and I know better. I'm a good driver, BUT a cat darted out in the road, I swerved a little bit, hit a medium tree and the truck rolled over.

Its was an instant flash of realization. The truck was munched upside down, I unclipped my seatbelt, Thang God I had one on, and managed to crawl out the window.
someone called 911 immediately, But the guys who's house I was in front of was real cool and came to help.

I told him I live a few blocks away, and he said lets get you home now.
By the time I got home, the cop and ambulence were waiting.

The cop was alright, and I was explaining what happened.
I had 2 choices.. Go to the hospital or go to jail.

My left elbow was gashed bad and bleeding bad, but otherwise I was VERY lucky.

After a quick decision to go to the hospital, I went to ER, they patched me up, gave me a tetanus shot.
But the Cop drew blood for analyise. the hospital gave me a breathalizer. .17

I have no Priors. Nobody was hurt except me.
He said it could be ~2 months before the lab results get back to the authorities.

Aside from totalling my truck, and having to pay the medical bills when they arive will be bad.

I don't know whats going to happen legally. What can I expect?

I swore never to drink and drive EVER again. I don't know if I'll ever drink again.

Should I hire an attorney? Its pretty cut and dry. I don't want to pay more money than what I'm already going to have to with medical and fines.
Treatment, license suspended, all that.

Anyone been in a situation like that?
What should I do?

No drugs or anything illegal was in the truck,

Thanks!!

NEVER Drink and Drive..I was an idiot, but maybe I can find a silver lining in all this.. I am thankful God was watching over me..

What you should have done was got a beer from the cool guy whos house you were in front and then just waited for the cops. They roll up you were freeked out by the accident and started pounding beers - no drunk driving. There's no way to say if you were intoxicated while driving and that the beer you had was after the accident.

What's the limit for your state .8 or .1? Regardless, if you have no other offenses besides parking/speeding tickets make sure they're paid right away. If no one was injured, I would expect a fine, driver's license taken away, community service and maybe some small jail time couple days to MAYBE 2 weeks, MAYBE. If the cop wrote down DUI you'll get off lighter punishment than a DWI (Driving While Intoxicated). This hasn't happened to me but a friend of mine it may change though because he was underage. Best of luck to ya and hope this somewhat helped!


Joe has an excellent point also!

you can expect to spend about 10000 dollars for your first DUI. Are you over 21? Are you a minor? If you are under 21 you will lose your licence until you are 21 if you are a minor you will lose your license until you are 21. You will have to go to 90 AA meetings you will have to sign up for a drug and alcohol diversion program. Expect your auto insurance to triple for the next 5 years, and your insurance company will most likley not pay for the damage you did to your car.

Did you make it inside your house before you were taken to the hospital? if so, you can say you had a drink to calm your nerves after the accident. good luck

i dk what state you are in but a quick google search with your states name and "dui" will give you some goo results. i personally spent 2800$ usd in cali for mine. it was 2 days before my 21st bday and i spent 6 hrs in county. 6 mo in the class and 12 mo suspension. people in my class got lawyers and spent 2 to 3 grand more then me and got the same.

however you flipped your truck, but it was on someones property, im pretty sure qas long as they dont press charges you will not have to worry about that.

mine was .16, but like i said it depends on state, and county for that matter, sometimes the descrestion of the arresting officer. the least you SHOULD do is talk to a public defender and prolong the case. listien to what he says and decied to get yourself a "real" lawyer from there

LOL what the fuck? did you make this up for attention? your telling me you crashed drunk and someone that saw it happen & offered you a drive home? wtf? iuno what world your in, but here its called leaving the scene of an accident and that charge alone is worse then a drunk driving charge, secondly, how did the cops and ambulence know it was you that crashed and were just magically waiting at your house for you, your storey sucks

Mr.Pyrex said:

LOL what the fuck? did you make this up for attention? your telling me you crashed drunk and someone that saw it happen & offered you a drive home? wtf? iuno what world your in, but here its called leaving the scene of an accident and that charge alone is worse then a drunk driving charge, secondly, how did the cops and ambulence know it was you that crashed and were just magically waiting at your house for you, your storey sucks

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Thanks for the advice and similar experiences from everybody so far! I appreciate it!


Nah, I was only 1/2 a mile from home. Another person called 911. The one guy walked me home. I was too far intoxicated to say I just had a shot to calm my nerves. Althoug that wasn't a bad idea, but considering I had 0 time to think . took me about 10 minutes to walk home and 2 minutes after that everyone was there. They prolly got the license plate and didn't have far to go

Trust me, I wish I was making this all up
Heres the truck after it got towed the next day. My mom picked me up from the hospital @ 3am





Dude had a row of trees right in front. No real property damage to him except taking out his mailbox....

You could have killed somebody. You come on here and ask for advice on how to not pay the consequences? Well, pay the consequences like a man and realise that it was a young, stupid mistake. Learn from this mistake and the money you have paid out for the DUI will be well worth it. Shit happens, life happens. This is shit happening for you right now.

gjs4786 said:

You could have killed somebody. You come on here and ask for advice on how to not pay the consequences? Well, pay the consequences like a man and realise that it was a young, stupid mistake. Learn from this mistake and the money you have paid out for the DUI will be well worth it. Shit happens, life happens. This is shit happening for you right now.

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I'm not looking on how to NOT pay the consequences, but minimize them.

Is a lawyer worth it?
How much is the fine and treatment going to be?

How bad is this on your record really? how long does the residual effects last?

Yeah, I made a big, stupid, fukking mistake. I'm not a bad person, and this will never happen again.

I'm looking for a silver lining. God has some kind of plan.

But thanks...

I've had a similar situation just recently, I was caught shoplifting while I had pot on me.
Stupid
Stupid
I know you're punishing yourself right now, and you're right too, it'll keep you from screwing up again. (I've been doing the same thing) In the same breath, as long as you're punishing yourself, you might as well give the already taxed legal system a break and get as little legal flack on you as possible.

Call a lawyer, ask for a free consultation, they are invaluable. My free consultation really helped me to understand what kind of consequences were in store, how I could help myself stay out of trouble, and best present my case.
While I was in jail waiting for my parent to pick me up (ugh, that was miserable) a police man was kind enough to point out that many cases are not based on whether you are innocent or guilty, but whether all the proper protocols were followed during your "arrest".
If you choose that a lawyer/attorney is necessary, you can hire a cheap one (many of them are willing to drop their fee a bit or offer payment plans), or you can let the court appoint you one (free lawyer).
Since this is your first time you can probably get your records sealed, which means that no one will be able to see that you've broken the law. (Ask if this is possible in your case during your free consultation.)

That's all I got, I hope it helps. Good Luck!

sk3tch3 said:

i dk what state you are in but a quick google search with your states name and "dui" will give you some goo results. i personally spent 2800$ usd in cali for mine. it was 2 days before my 21st bday and i spent 6 hrs in county. 6 mo in the class and 12 mo suspension. people in my class got lawyers and spent 2 to 3 grand more then me and got the same.

however you flipped your truck, but it was on someone's property, im pretty sure qas long as they dont press charges you will not have to worry about that.

mine was .16, but like i said it depends on state, and county for that matter, sometimes the descrestion of the arresting officer. the least you SHOULD do is talk to a public defender and prolong the case. listien to what he says and decied to get yourself a "real" lawyer from there

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My sons first DUI had the same consequences as sk3tch3. But his second one did cost close to ten grand after all was said and done. Plus a years worth of classes, a week in jail, suspended license for a year and 2 months of public service.
Don't bother with an attorney, get a public defender. They are experts at defending DUI. They do it all of the time. All you can hope for is getting the minimum.
BTW my son hasn't had a drink in two years. I hope it stays that way. Next time he'll do 90 day at the corn bread hotel.

The longest term effect, is having to put it on any application you fill out for the rest of your life. The next longest effect is your insurance premium, as the DUI stays on your record 2 years longer than any other violation, for a total of 5 years.

I hate to trivialize you situation but DUI's are a part of life. I could count at least 50 people that I know that have them. Start asking questions. I'm sure you know at least 1 person that has at least 1 let alone multiples. They are not cheap or convienent, but they do happen on a regular basis. It is going to cost alot. Legal fees, increased insurance, and whatever its going to cost to get your vehicle repaired. The worst thing is the fines and the cost will not prevent someone from driving while intoxicated. Its just an easy way for the states to collect money.