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5 things that tempt people to drive drunk

On Behalf of | Apr 28, 2017 | Blog |

As soon as the lights flash in your rear-view mirror, you know you’ve made a mistake. You had a little bit to drink. You didn’t think it was enough to stop you from driving home. You don’t even know if you are actually over the legal limit, but you’re about to find out.

Driving under the influence can often be tempting. It’s not that you want to put yourself or anyone else in danger, but it’s convenient and easy to convince yourself it’s all right. Below are five reasons that people do it:

1. Getting a ride is too expensive.

Maybe you’re on a tight budget. Maybe you just don’t have cash with you. Maybe you spent too much at dinner and you really need to cut down on the costs of the night. Regardless, getting a ride is just not a financial possibility.

2. You need your car the next day.

You’re a young professional and you have work in the morning. You don’t have time to get a cab, ride back to the bar, and pick up your vehicle. You’d be late for work and and you’d have to pay cab fare both ways to do it.

3. You’re in a rush.

The night is over, and you really just want to get home. Maybe you pulled out your phone to get an Uber, but they said it’d take 20 minutes. The bus would take even longer. In your car, you’ll be home in five. All you want to do is go to bed and get rested up for work the next day, so you don’t want to wait.

4. It’s a habit.

The first time you drove after drinking, you said it was an exception and you wouldn’t do it again. Everything went well, though, and you got home without incident. The next time, you couldn’t resist the temptation. It went well again. Before long, you were driving home every time.

5. You didn’t know what other options you had.

Most people get around in their own cars the vast majority of the time. Maybe you knew there was a bus, but you didn’t know which line to ride or if any of them went to your house. Maybe you weren’t sure how to get a cab and had never done it. Figuring all of this out when you had a five-minute ride home just sounded overwhelming and confusing, so you decided to drive.

A DUI arrest can have serious ramifications, impacting your wallet, your employment and your legal right to drive. It’s critical that you know all of your legal defense options. Even if you made a mistakes, you must consider your options to reduce the impact on your future and move forward after the arrest.

Remember that everyone deserves a fair trial. This is especially important if you think you were arrested in error, you weren’t over the limit, or the police did not follow the proper procedures when making the arrest.