We have all heard the reasons why it’s really not a smart idea to drive while drunk from a public safety standpoint. I don’t care who you are, or what the excuse is, if you end up taking someone else’s life because you were intoxicated behind the wheel, it will haunt you for the rest of your life–and you’ll probably be looking at substantial jail time. Even if you don’t end up in an accident that results in an injury, or a costly auto repair. You will have to contend with the financial impact of getting a DUI, when (not if) you get caught. And drunk driving comes with a pretty high cost.
Depending on the firm or organization doing the estimating, getting a DUI can cost you between $10-$20,000. That is a lot of dough for one night of, “Oh well, it’s no big deal and I gotta get home, right?” The costs really add up because you will be looking at a number of expensive items, from bail to the cost of auto repair to court mandated DUI classes, attorney fees and the suspension of your license. Trust us, at Fort Collins Foreign Car Service, we deal with the aftermath of DUIs regularly. It is better to call a cab or get a friend to drive you home than to lose your license and your ability to drive for a year (or perhaps more).
In Colorado, if you are convicted of a DUI, you will most likely have your license suspended and you will be required to have an ignition interlock device installed (at your own expense) if you wish to retain your ability to drive your own car during the suspension period. This is not an insignificant expense and can further add to the tens of thousands of dollars that you will be spending in order to fix your mistake.
We talked a bit about how a DUI will cost you money in terms of any auto repair and legal fees that you will be on the hook for, but another expense is that your insurance rates will likely go up significantly. This can cost you big over the long-term, and is an indirect expense that a lot of people do not factor in when considering the total cost of a DUI violation.
As technicians who work with cars and see the auto repair impacts of drunken driving on a regular basis, trust us, you don’t want to risk the financial or physical loss that could come from drunken driving. At Fort Collins Foreign Car Service, we highly recommend that you take responsibility and do the smart think when you’re drinking. Call a cab, designate a driver or get a friend to drive you home if you’re impaired. Don’t drink and drive. The costs and the risks just aren’t worth it.