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I found this tool online that can help you find cheap auto insurance if you have been convicted of dui. Simply click on your insurance to find sr22 insurance.

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Drinking and Driving Statistics

• In 2010 drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population was 3.3%. This represents a 64% decrease in drink driving related fatalities since 1982.
• What this means is that for every 100,000 people in the US, 3 people were killed in a drunk driving related crash in 2010.
• Alcohol impaired driving fatalities accounted for 31% of total vehicle traffic fatalities in 2010.
• Between 1991 and 2010 the drink driving fatalities decreased 48%.
• Under 21 years of age drunk driving fatalities have declined 57% from 1991 to 2010.

I found a very interesting link that allows you to click on a State and find the drinking and driving statistics for that State. Please check it out at centurycouncil.org/state-facts

How to avoid DUI

I just read an excellent article written by two DUI lawyers entitled 101 Ways to Avoid a Drunk Driving Conviction. The entire article can be read in its entirety at DrunkDrivingDefense.com

In summary the article talked about issues such as questions concerning breathalyzer accuracy, what to do after dui arrest, and most importantly they address the question of is being arrested the same as being convicted.

This article gives the reader a prevention checklist on not only how to avoid getting arrested but most importantly how to avoid being convicted of dui.

I hope you enjoy the article.

How does a DUI affect your car insurance?

If you are convicted of a DUI, you will be required by state law to add a SR-22 or a FR-44 certificate to your car insurance. In Virginia and Florida a FR-44 is required and in all the other states a SR-22 is required. Both forms of additional car insurance will have to be filed with the Division of Motor Vehicles prior to the offender being able to obtain a hard copy of his restricted license from DMV. The additonal insurance must be provided for every vehicle registered in the DUI offender's name.

The SR-22 is a certificate that is added to your exisitng car insurance. This is a liability form of insurance. This type of coverage is designed to provide higher limits on bodily Injury, death of one or more persons, and property damage. The offender is required to carry the higher limits becasue he is now viewed as a higher risk to everyone else on the road. The certificate will show the additional coverage as 20/40/15. This means coverage of $20,000 for one person killed or injured, $40,000 for two or more persons killed or injured, and $15,000 for damaged property. The FR-44 in Virginia is similar in nature to the SR-22 except that the coverage limits are higher, 50/100/40. In Florida the FR-44 coverage limits are higher are higher than Virginia's limits, 100/300/50.

I have always heard that a DUI will cause your car insurance premiums to skyrocket. The fact is that the SR-22 coverage adds very little to your insurance premiums and some insurance companies will provide this additional coverage for free. The additional cost of the FR-44 is $15 to $25 depending whether you are in Virginia or Florida. Your current insurance company may raise your premiums or even cancel your insurance all together because of your DUI. My former insurance provider had been providing me car insurance to for over 20 years and I had a very clean driving record up until the DUI. I received a letter from my insurance company shortly after my DUI conviction stating that my my car insuarnce would be cancelled on all my vehicles. I did some shopping a  

around and found insurance coverage that was less expensive than what I was paying even with the added FR-44. My best advice is for you to start calling insurance companies now and start getting quotes on your car insurance. In a matter of hours you can have a new policy in place for all your vehicles.

DWI DUI

DWI is driving while intoxicated. DUI is driving under the influence. Some states differentiate between the two. In these states a DWI is considered the worst of the two and the offender should obtain the services of a DWI lawyer in an attempt to get the DWI reduced to a DUI. In other states there is no difference between the two. These states have what is considered no tolerance drunk driving laws. Other states use DUI to refer to an offender who has been convicted of driving while under the influence of drugs other than alcohol. My suggestion for you is to check the drunk driving laws of your state to see how DWI DUI is defined.

Ignition Interlock Device

If your BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) is .15 or higher at the time of your DUI arrest, chances are good that you will have to have an Ignition Interlock Device installed on your car. You will also be required by court order to have one of these devices installed on every vehicle registered in your name. An ignition interlock device is a mechanism that is installed below your dashboard that you will have to breathe into each time before you start your vehicle. If your BAC is over a certain amount, your vehicle will not start. The court will mandate that you have one of these devices installed before you start driving on your restricted driver's license. It varies from state to state, but on average, the device is required to be installed for at least 6 months.

You will have to take your vehicle to a local dealer that installs and maintains the interlock devices. You will pay $50-$200 to have the device installed. Once it is installed, you will have to pay $50-$100 for the monthly rental costs of the device. Every 60 days or so you will also have to take your vehicle to the dealer to have the device calibrated. Clearly, this can get very costly if you have multiple vehicles registered in your name.

The ignition interlock also has a feature called "rolling tests" that require a driver to blow into the device while the vehicle is running. The purpose of the rolling tests is to prevent sober individuals from blowing into the device for intoxicated drivers. If this test is positive, alarms such as your horn and flashing lights will go off. These alarms will not stop until the ignition is turned off.

The ignition interlock device contains a computer chip that records your BAC when you breath into the device. If there is a positive reading the vehicle will not start from that point forward. The computer chip also will detect any tampering of the device. If the chip records a positive reading or signs of tampering, your ASAP case worker and/or the law enforcement officials will be contacted immediately. This would be grounds for violation of your probation period and you will then be required to go back to court for additional penalties, jail time, or fines. You could also lose the privilege to drive for a longer period of time.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving went to Washington late last year in an attempt to push Congress to make these devices mandatory for life for all drunk driving offenders. New Mexico is the only state that currently has that law in place and the year after the law was passed, fatalities from drunk driving accidents there decreased by 13%. The Virginia State Senate just passed legislation (February 2012) that requires ignition interlock to be installed in all cases of DUI conviction, regardless of the BAC level. General Motors is doing research on making these types of devices standard on all vehicles.

ASAP - Alcohol Safety Action Program

One of the first requirements after being convicted of your DUI is to report to ASAP for your initial intake registration. ASAP is a state supported program designed to monitor and provide alcohol and drug education to DUI offenders. The purpose of the program is to rehabilitate those convicted of a DUI in an effort to prevent them from repeat offenses of drunk driving.You will have a given time frame to report to ASAP in your court papers. Make sure to put this date in your calendar and definitely do not miss the appointment. The first thing you will do before you start your paper work is blow into a breathalyzer. It is amazing how many offenders walk into ASAP after they have been drinking alcohol and blow a positive reading into the breathalyzer. This is not a good way to start your rehabilitation. ASAP will send you back to court and you will probably have to serve the jail time that was suspended and/or pay any fines that were suspended during your initial trial.

During your intake you will fill out a questionnaire. The questionnaire will ask you about your drinking habits and your history of drinking.  After you complete the questionnaire you will meet with a ASAP representative who will inform you of what will be required of you during your 1 year probation period. Depending on the review of your questionnaire and your BAC at the time of your arrest, the ASAP representative may refer you to a treatment center that specializes in alcohol and drug abuse. The ASAP representative will give you a form with the name and phone number of the treatment center you will be referred to. You will have a certain time frame to contact them and make an appointment. I forgot to mention that before you leave ASAP, you will have to write a $400 check for your registration fee.

When you arrive for your appointment at the treatment center you will be given a urine drug test. This urine test can detect alcohol in your system for up to 80 hours of your last drink and they will bust you if it comes back positive. After your drug test you will complete another questionnaire and then you will be interviewed by a counselor. Most people are defensive and angry during this interview because they all think they don't need this treatment. This approach will only make matters worse for you. The counselor will tell you during the interview whether or not you will be required to go through the treatment program. I was required to go through the program. I was informed that I had to attend 2 two hour sessions per week for 16 weeks. Also during that 16 week period I was required to attend 2 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week. The cost of the treatment program was $80 per session or $160 per week! Your health insurance may pay portion of this cost.

From my experience, my advice is to leave your anger at the door and try to see this as a positive experience. This will be the first time most of you have ever had to express your inner most feelings in a group setting. You will find, as I did, that the people in the group are just like you. If you participate and are honest during the group discussion you will feel an immediate support system from the group. I actually got to the point where I looked forward to going to the sessions. It is amazing to see people go from bitter and angry to totally opening up and even becoming emotional when talking about their drinking and DUI. The 16 weeks will fly by and when it's time for you to leave, I promise you will feel good about the experience.

After you complete your treatment center sessions, your next step is to attend the 10 week, 2 hours per week ASAP classes. In these classes you will be educated on how alcohol affects your body and how it impairs your driving. You will also be asked to come up with a plan of action that will prevent you from ever making the decision to drink and drive again. ASAP is very strict on your attendance to the classes. The doors will be locked when the class starts and late arrivers will be marked absent from the class. Couple missed classes will get you kicked out of the program and you will be forced to start all over. Again I have found if you have a good attitude and participate in class discussions, this will be be a positive experience for you.

After your 10 weeks of classes, you are done with the exception of ASAP having the option to call you in for random drug testing. I have heard stories of people testing positive on a drug test during the period after they have completed all their course work and the end of their probation. These people were sent back to court and were forced to start the entire process all over again. Don't be one of these people.

Don't let the Super Bowl lead you to a Super Mistake

The Super Bowl is always one of the biggest party occassions of the year. Unfortunately, it is also one of the biggest days for DUI arrests. Don't become a 2012 statistic Sunday night. I know the Giants being in the Super Bowl will drive anyone to heavy drinking but if you are driving tomorrow night, keep in mind that the law enforcement officials will be be looking for you. Sorry Giant fans I am a disgruntled Redskins fan. Here are some thoughts to keep in mind if you are drinking alcohol tomorrow night and plan to drive home:

1. Every drink you consume adds .02 to your BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration). It doesn't matter if your drink of choice is beer, wine, or liquor.
2. Your body metabolizes (gets rid of) .015 BAC per hour.
3. The rate at which your body metabolizes is based on the passage of time and nothing else.
4. If you consume 3 drinks the first hour you are there you are already close to a .06. Keep in mind that in a lot of states .08 is the point at which will get you arrested for a DUI. If you drop back to 2 drinks for the next 2 or 3 hours you could easily reach a .15 or higher. For people accustomed to regular drinking, you will not realize you are reaching this point. If you are convicted of a DUI at a .15, you will lose your license for 1 year, an ignition interlock system will have to be installed on every vehicle registered in your name, and you will spend a mandatory 5 days in jail.
5. Even if you are smart enough not to drive home, you may still be over the legal limit Monday morning when you get in your car to drive to work. This is especially true if you continue to drink until 1:00 or 2:00 am.
6. If you have had a hard night of drinking, just assume you are at a .2 BAC when you stop drinking. Simply subtract .015 per hour since your last drink from .2 and that will give you your BAC at a given passage of time. As I said in my previous blog this is a risky numbers game. The best course of action is to have a designated driver or cab and then make certain you are sober enough in the morning to drive.

Enjoy the game.

Okay to drive the morning after? Think Again!

An alarming number of alcohol related accidents and DUI's occur in the morning hours between 7:00 am and 9:00 am. The main reason for this is that  most of these drivers drink alcohol the night before and do not allow enough time to pass for their body to metabolize the alcohol so that their BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) is below the legal limit. Most (90%) of the aclohol you drink leaves the body through a process known as metabolism which is a set of chemical reactions that break down the food that we eat. The human body metabolizes alcohol at a rate of .015 per hour. To estimate the time required so that you are legally sober enough to drive, you need to take your BAC level at the time you finish drinking and subtract .015 per hour from it. An example is one evening you leave the bar at 1:00 am and you have a BAC of .2, when you get in your car to drive to work at 8:00 am, 7 hours have passed which means your BAC would be close to a .10 (.2 - (7 hours x .015). At this point you are driving to work while legally drunk and you are probably totally unaware of it. In fact, the alcohol would not be totally out of your system until 3:00 pm that afternoon. This is calculated by taking the original BAC of .2 divided by .015 per hour or 13.33 hours. This is a very risky numbers game that could cost you dearly if you miscalculate. This is why I am a proponent of personal breathalyzers. It takes the risk away but the best bet is to never drink and drive.

Can't Drink.....What Now?

Once you are convicted, a condition of your 1 year ASAP program is that you are required to abstain from consuming any and all alcohol beverages during that 1 year period. You will be drug tested randomly during this time by ASAP so don't take this requirement of your probation and/or treatment period lightly. This will be difficult for some people so I am giving you some suggestions on actions you can take to help curb your desire or temptation to drink alcohol.

1. Put together a written plan of action that you will follow over the 1 year probation period. this will help organize your thoughts around what is required of you and what actions you need to take during this period. I organized my plan of action and everything associated with my DUI in a 3 ring binder.
2. Start an exercise program. One of the first items on my plan of action was to join a local fitness club and follow a consistent exercises program that includes at least 3 days of intense cardio (any exercises that gets your heart rate up). Of course, make sure you are healthy enough to start such a program. Cardio excercise causes the brain to produce chemicals that give you the same euphoric feeling as alcohol. I encourage you to research this subject for yourself. For me this has been the best replacement of my habit of cracking open a beer after work. I feel better than I have in a long time. This exercise program will have multiple benefits. You will feel better every morning, you will be more productive at work, you will have the energy to do other things that you have been putting off in your life, and you will be amazed at the positive changes in your body appearance. If you are saying to yourself you can't afford to join a fitness club, compare the small membership investment you make each month to the amount you were spending on alcohol each month. I pay $59 for my gym membership and as some of you know, you can spend this in one night drinking at a bar.
3. Start reading if you have not been doing so. If you are like me you don't have the time to read at night or you are too tired after work. I joined an audio book web site and I now spend all my driving time reading. I have read 7 full length books since my arrest. Like exercise, this is a life changer. you will feel so good about yourself when you start a consistent reading program.
4. Find an activity to do or goal you have been wanting to achieve and start spending your spare time pursuing. Idle time is not a good thing during the 1 year probation period. You need to stay busy. I have started an Internet and this blog since my DUI conviction.
5. Write out and read aloud daily positive affirmations. This will be an abstract concept for most people to grasp. These affirmations should be written in the first person, present tense. These afirmations should be developed from items in your plan of action and behaviors you are trying to change. Some examples are:

• I drink plenty of water each day.
• I can have fun without drinking alcohol.
• I feel great since I stopped drinking alcohol.
• I consistently follow my weekly exercise program.

Follow my suggestions and you will find it so much easier to endure the consequences and changes your DUI conviction has brought to your life.

Get an Attorney!!!!!

The first thing you should do after your arrest is to start your search for a DUI DWI lawyer. I take that back. The first thing you want to do after your arrest is to get out of jail. Trust me, I know its not a laughing matter. Seriously, all of your friends will want to give you legal advice. While you are sitting in jail just after your arrest the other unfortunate souls in your cell will be giving you all kinds of advice and telling you of all the legal woes you will face. Don't listen to these people they are in jail.

Make a list of five attorneys that specialize in DUI's.If you know anyone who has been arrested for a DUI, you can ask them about the attorney they hired.One of the best ways to find a good attorney is through referrals from others. Another way to find attorneys is the phone book. Once you have the list of attorneys, call and make an appointment to interview each one. Yes I did say interview because your attorney will be working for you. When I started this process the fees varied from $750 to $8,000. You may find the right attorney for you after the second or third interview but having the list of five gives you more options if you need them. On the day of your interview take all the paperwork you have collected since your arrest. This information includes at minimum: the ticket that the officer wrote at the scene and the certificate showing your BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration). Also, prior to your interview, write down everything that occurred from what you were doing prior to your arrest, the reason you were pulled, what occurred at the scene between you and the arresting officer, and all that occurred from the time you arrived at the station up through the time you were released. My attorney told me the information I provided him at the time of our interview was very important to the final outcome of my trial. After completing the interview process, I chose my attorney based on good referrals, his fee was very fair, he was very clear on what I should expect to happen at my trial, my immediate comfort level with him, and his office was within walking distance of the courthouse. I am not saying that your attorney has to be located in the jurisdiction where you were arrested, but I feel it was a plus in my case. The day of my trial, it was obvious that my attorney had a lot of experience and rapport with the prosecuter and the judge. I was very happy with my choice. He proved to be very professional and everything he told me what to expect during the initial interview was exactly the outcome of my trial. He actually sent me a letter summarizing the decision of the judge regarding my case and everything that was required of me to be in compliance with the judges decision. He even thanked me for being his client. You will find by making this first important choice, you will relieve some of the stress that is being caused by all the unknowns floating around in your mind.

Start making your list of potential attorneys now and call to make your first appointment tomorrow. You have made a poor decision. Get over it. Now it is important to accept full responsibility for what happened and start taking action.

Drunk Driving Laws - The Consequences of Being Convicted of a DUI

The penalties for being convicted in the State of Virginia for Driving Under the Influence are as follows:

• If convicted of a DUI in the state of Virginia you could be sentenced to up to 1 year in jail and/or up to a $2,500 fine.
• If convicted of a DUI, you will lose your driving priviges for 1 year. The judge will make the decision during your trial whether or not you will be issued a restricted license. This will allow you to drive back and forth to only certain places such as work. The cost of getting a restricted license is $220.
• If convicted of a DUI, you will also have to enter an acohol education program administered by the state. In the state of Virginia this program is called ASAP and it will cost you $400 when you register for the program.
• The state program may also refer you to be evaluated by an independent treatment center. I had to complete one of these independent treatment programs. This program ran for 16 weeks and consisted of two, 2 hour sessions per week at a cost of $80 per session. The total cost for this independent program was $2,560. In addition to the 2 nights per week, I was also mandated to attend at least 2 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week.
• The ASAP program runs for 10 weeks and consists of one, 2 hour session per week.

Any jail time you will have to serve is based on your BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) aka as "what you blew" at the time of your arrest. The required jail terms are as follows:

• First DUI Offender - BAC below .15 usually no jail time is required. If you blew between .15 and .2, there is a mandatory 5 day jail sentence. For a .21 BAC and higher there is a mandatory 10 day jail sentence. From the people I have talked to in my group meetings, they were able to serve the jail time during the weekends. This allowed them to work while serving their jail time but it does vary depending on individual circumsatnces.
• In addition to jail time, an ignition interlock device will have to be installed on every vehicle that is registered in the convicted person's name. This applies to offenders who blow .15 or higher. You have to blow into this device and register a negative BAC before the vehicle's engine will start. I didn't have to have one of these devices installed on my vehicle, but from what I hear, there is a cost to install the device and then a monthly charge to lease the device.
• Second and Third DUI Offender - Don't even go there. You will lose your license for 3-5 years and serve up to 5 years in prison. My blog is to help you avoid getting your first DUI and if you are convicted, to guide you through the long year that follows.


• Also, if convicted, the court will mandate that you abstain from the consumption of alcohol during the 1 year period after your conviction. This means you can drink no alcohol at all during that 1 year period. Don't mess around with this one. ASAP will do urine drug testing anytime they choose. Not many DUI offenders enetering the program know this but there is now a urine test that picks up alcohol in your system up to 80 hours after consumption. If you show a positive on a drug test, ASAP will send you back to court and the process starts all over. You could end up serving more jail time, losing your restricted license, or whatever else the judge feels is appropriate for your case. I have heard of people failing one of these tests after completing the the entire program but before the 1 year is complete and having to start all over again.