<p>"I live in Ca. I think you are stuck in a time warp. Go find a first time DUI offender in the last few years and ask him/her what the process was like and how much did it cost. It is a far cry from the slap on the wrist you are describing. "</p>
<p>This is NOT a slap on the wrist. AND, BTW, I lived in California, and the process was the same. The additional wrinkle in California is that, when there is a plea at all, in the overwhelming number of cases are pled down to a “wet reckless”, and not a DUI at all.</p>
<p>You plead because every lawyer will tell you the cards are stacked against you in Ca. A wet reckless is no picnic in the park. It stays on your record for 10 years.</p>
<p>07Dad, there are jurisdictions (Ventura County) in Ca that have required jail sentences for first time DUI’s. I would have to look it up but it varies by location. Anyway, if you are arrested in the evening, it is very likely you will spend a night in jail.</p>
<p>Even without a jail sentence your life is turned upside down if arrested for a DUI. It is a very traumatic experience. For many it is warranted; for others, it is an overreach.</p>
<p>So, the police are not supposed to arrest someone driving with a BAC of 0.08% or greater? Seriously, what are they to do? Let the person drive away?</p>
<p>On a standard first-time Ventura DUI, you will have the option of spending forty-eight hours in jail or serving five days of work release. If you choose to serve jail time, you will pick the day and time that you want to remand yourself. </p>
<p>According to one site: Many people choose to do their time over a weekend, from 7:00pm on Friday to 7:00pm on Sunday. This option works best for people who work Monday through Friday and do not want their employers to know about their DUI convictions.</p>
I did exactly that - asked someone in California who just received one. It was plead down (by a public defender - no lawyer cost) to ‘wet reckless’ and had the penalties I already stated (which didn’t include jail time for this misdemeanor - not felony). And I think this is the norm - not whatever it is you think actually happens for which you don’t have any actual anecdotes or evidence. this was at the ‘light’ end of the spectrum - i.e. no other aggravating circumstances.</p>
<p>You should be happy about this - the actual penalties are not as severe as you think they are.</p>
<p>But we’re all just going in circles on this and you seem to be set in your idea on this despite what people are posting so I guess there’s no point in continuing on the subject.</p>
<p>*
Even without a jail sentence your life is turned upside down if arrested for a DUI. It is a very traumatic experience. *</p>
<p>Assuming this is true, I do not find risking the lives of others recklessly, to warrant anything less. Presumably those in jurisdictions where DUI is taken seriously are aware of their choices?
Why is the right to inbibe apparently more important than the rights of others to reach their destination safely?</p>
<p>If so, that includes the $10,000 maximum restitution amount that can be ordered where there are “victims.” The max fine is $1,000 and the max additional penalties is $1,700 more. The remainder of the $16k is comprised of attorneys fees and increase in the cost of insurance.</p>
<p>Florida drivers under 21 caught driving with just .02 BAC will have their drivers license suspended. Fl has a ‘zero tolerance’ policy for young drinking drivers. 02 could be just one drink.</p>
<p>This was many years ago and in Texas when it was still legal to drive with an open container, but I knew someone who was picked up for DUI. He was of legal drinking age. He was arrested on the spot and when he asked what he should do with his car, the cop told him his passenger (friend riding with him) could drive the car home. Funny thing was, the passenger/friend was probably more drunk than the driver. Talk about your clueless cop!</p>
<p>"You plead because every lawyer will tell you the cards are stacked against you in Ca. A wet reckless is no picnic in the park. It stays on your record for 10 years. "</p>
<p>Yes, but most of the time it doesn’t even get to a plea. Most jurisdictions in California are among the most lenient in the country. </p>
<p>Take the aforementioned case of Ventura County:</p>
<p>“On a standard first-time Ventura DUI, you will have the option of spending forty-eight hours in jail or serving five days of work release. If you choose to serve jail time, you will pick the day and time that you want to remand yourself.”</p>
<p>This is if it is NOT pled down to a “wet reckless”, for which there will be no jailtime.</p>
<p>But wait, there may be no plea, and simply an agreement to attend alcohol education in lieu of a plea.</p>
<p>In short, it would actually be very difficult to go to jail in Ventura County for an arrest for a first-time DUI.</p>
<p>Do you know a lot of people who got a sentence that only included attending an alcohol education program? You forgot the fines, penalties, insurance costs, drivers license suspension and DMV administrative hearings, etc.</p>
<p>It is NOT a sentence! In fact, there was never a trial, or even a finding of guilt, or even a plea. (You are very frustrating, as it is very clear that you have no specific knowledge of how the law, in your own state, works.) No finding of guilt is made. (If you are arrested again and found guilty, it will be treated as a second offense.) And yes, 90% of would-be DUIs end up that way. NO fines, NO penalties, NO drivers license suspension, NO DMV administrative hearings. Each insurance compay will deal with this differently. If they ask if you’ve ever been arrested…you will have higher insurance costs. If they ask if you’ve ever been convicted…you won’t. Because you were never convicted.</p>
<p>“Can you show me a reliable third party source confirming this for the last couple of years?”</p>
<p>No, because they wouldn’t even keep track, since there is no court adjudication. (You would know that if you knew how your state’s system works.) The best you could do is get the number of arrests from the state police (that is available), and then subtract the number of convictions (because, as you say, almost no one is found innocent once they go to trial.). Or you go to the California website of their Social and Health Services, Alcohol and Drug Services division - they’ll tell you how many alcohol education programs are accredited - but they won’t tell you how many attend, as they don’t pay for it.</p>
<p>So you’ll just have to trust me. I only did the public health data for our state’s Division of Alcohol and Substance Abuse for more than a decade - this is stuff I was PAID to know.</p>
<p>Hey guys, thanks for the info. I don’t want to sound defensive because a lot of good points are getting made. All I really am attempting to do is to make sure the occasional drinker (not the binge or abusive drinker) who is really not a danger to others and is not likely to ever get into trouble again, is not swept up into the same group with the DUI offender who is a raging or chronic alcoholic and who is not likely to have learned his lesson as a result of a DUI arrest. </p>
<p>I just don’t think these two very different profiles should be treated the same. If we concentrated our resources on the repeat offender and those will substance abuse problems, we might have far greater success in reducing highway fatalities.</p>
<p>GladGrad, thanks for the PM. I don’t have PM privileges yet so I can’t respond.</p>