DUI & Career Impact for Professionals
Drinking and driving among celebrities has become almost an everyday affair in Southern California including, movie stars, politicians, and athletes. Hollywood is full of people making headlines for DUI arrests, many of them repeatedly. You might ask, what are the real life ramifications for those away from the spotlight, professionals with real lives, jobs, and families to support.
What will happen if you work for a company like Disney or Toys R Us? What if you are required to serve 6 months in a residential program? Will your employer hold your job? What happens when DMV forces you to go to DUI offender classes for 6 months will your employer understand? Will he understand your having to take time away from work to deal with hearings, court, and possible jail time? Imagine what happens to those in the health care field. Are you a doctor, a nurse, a hospital administrator? Could you lose your license to practice medicine? Any professional, high profile, or out in the public eye job, can be lost because of a DUI arrest.
However, what about all those well-known people arrested for driving under the influence? Their problems seem to disappear with relative ease. Should we assume there would be few, if any consequences for anyone else? That assumption is far from the truth. In most instances, DUI is at best difficult to deal with and can often be your worst nightmare. The nightmares of DUI arrest will continue becoming increasingly difficult to endure.
Legislation was recently passed in California that says basically; if you want a driver’s license, you will sign a declaration acknowledging that if you are driving under the influence and someone is killed, you will be tried for felony vehicular homicide. It does not matter whether you are not at fault or even if the person that died was in your car. The consequences of driving under the influence can become a horror story beyond your wildest dreams.
Paris Hilton, Mel Gibson, Dick Cheney, and other spot light personalities, can probably withstand the notoriety and possible backlash of a DUI arrest. Their consequences will be nothing compared to the ramifications for say, a pilot arrested on a DUI charge. Don’t think that the L.A. Times won’t run that as a feature story; do a Google search and see for yourself! Boat Captains, bus drivers, train engineers, semi-drivers, and others could suffer grave, life altering consequences from a DUI arrest. The department of Transportation will have little sympathy for people in these high profile professions that involve public transportation. Imagine the effect it will have on their insurance premiums.
Even if you can move things along rapidly, you may still have problems to face. You may think you can go to court plead no contest, get probation and pay your fines. That is what happened to Ty Pennington, star of Extreme Makeover. His case lasted only 3 weeks from arrest to sentencing. Still he reportedly had difficulty facing the humiliation of telling friends, family and, fans what happened. Even if it went quick, it was by no means painless.
Obviously, the scenario will be different for each individual in a particular career, but the consequences at work, financially, and socially can be devastating. The list of penalties is almost endless, suspended license, offender school, jail time, probation, or community service. Probation means you cannot leave the state. In some cases, even San Diego County. For a traveling professional probation can be career suicide.
There is not one aspect of a professional life that will not be adversely affected by a drunk driving arrest. Become informed about your rights. Knowledge is the key. Get educated, know the consequences, know your rights, find a good attorney who can tell you from experience what the ramifications can be if you choose to drink and drive, because you will need a good attorney.
Its guaranteed you might think twice before you drink and drive the next time. Keep this article in mind and remember: Driving while intoxicated is the most frequent crime committed in the United States.
G. Cole Casey is THE top DUI Defense Lawyer in San Diego County. His practice is dedicated exclusively to the defense of persons charged with DUI, DWI and Drunk Driving in Southern California.
Call us twenty-four hours a day at 619.237.0384 or send us an email now to discuss an aggressive and legitimate defense strategy for your DUI case.