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.