DWI’s Drive Me Crazy!
Actually, I love doing assessments. Meeting new people, getting to know their issues, and helping them navigate the process is one of the most rewarding parts of the job.
But, and this is a big BUT, it pains me to see regular, law-abiding, good people be forced into a system that is not very friendly. It’s confusing, humiliating, and very, very expensive. For instance, just to see and talk to me is $100. That assessment is the cheapest part of the process. It’s a flat-rate, no exceptions. And if, for whatever reason, one were to get a driving while license revoked, it’s another $100 for each incident. No way around it.
For a major portion of the people I see, $100 is possibly all the money they have available. It’s a three-digit expense that can put people way outside their monthly budget. But that’s just a start…
The next expense is the cost of an attorney. That can range from a couple hundred to a few thousand dollars, depending on the nature of the charge and other factors like speeding, kids in the car, blood alcohol level, prior DWI’s and a whole bunch of things that could fill up a page. Still, the one thing more expensive than a lawyer is not having a lawyer. Please- get a lawyer!
Then there’s the cost of classes or treatment, ranging from $185 for Prime for Life classes to…a few more hundred for additional counseling. Insurance? Even if you have it, it’s more a maybe than a certainty. Most insurance has a deductible, which means you gotta pay out-of-pocket before the insurance can kick in. This can be a few thousand dollars. At the beginning of January, most of my clients’ insurance did a reset, meaning their deductible started all over again. It can cost $50 an hour for a three-hour session. That’s $120 to $150 a night, three nights a week in some cases.
Yikes!
I found some good information from a local attorney, and then did some adjusting of my own. Check out: https://seiferflatowlaw.com/cost-to-defend-a-dwi-in-north-carolina/
Court Costs: $200
Fines: $200 – $10,000
Community Service: $250
Drug and Alcohol Classes: $185 to $2000
Ignition Interlock: $2,000-$3,000 plus $50-$100 per month
Supervised Probation: $1,000-$2,000
Driving Privilege Reinstatement: $100
Car Insurance: 400% increase
Civil Damages: vary by case
Lab costs:$600
I don’t mean to scare you, but I really want to SCARE you:
A SIMPLE DWI WILL COST YOU ABOUT $10,000 WHEN YOU’RE THROUGH THE WHOLE PROCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!
But none of that is why DWI assessments drive me crazy: it’s because they’re the single-most preventable cause of death, destruction and savings-draining expenses I can think of. The problem is, as much as it sounds like common sense, it really isn’t. Most people I’ve assessed do not have a substance or alcohol abuse problem. They had a judgment problem that may have been affected by alcohol, but that’s it. No withdrawal, tolerance, loss of control or any of the other criteria. In many cases, they only drink a few times a year: maybe once a month. By the time I meet with them, the most common thing I hear is, “I wish someone had told me that.”
There’s a lot of material on YouTube and blogs on DWI/DUI. Most of it is by law firms or treatment centers that have a financial interest in the information. I do not do DWI assessments in my practice, so I don’t have a financial interest in the topic apart from the local treatment center where I work part-time. I’m not soliciting you. In fact, I’d love to be out of a job or at least bored out of my mind because there aren’t any assessments schedule.
That’s not likely anytime soon. But maybe I can make a dent in it, help a few people avoid a situation that is so clearly avoidable. So, for the next few weeks, I’m going to write about what I know, what I’ve learned, and share basic information that can help you avoid an expensive and potentially fatal mistake.
In the meantime, please don’t drink and drive. And for gosh sake, don’t light up a blunt and go for a road trip!
Until next time!
