Maine Injury Lawyer Blog
A local man, who reportedly slammed into a parked vehicle, is now facing some serious charges. According to The Bangor Daily News, the accident happened on Broadway near the John Bapst Memorial High School just after midnight.When officers arrived at the scene of the accident, the driver was gone but they were able to find him shortly after, hiding under a porch on Penobscot Street. The porch he was hiding under was the porch of his own home. He has been charged with drunk driving as well as leaving the scene of an accident.
Our Portland drunk driving accident lawyers understand that there are thousands killed each and every year in the U. . in drunk driving crashes. These accidents are completely preventable, yet they continue to account for more than 30 percent of all of the traffic fatalities we observe each and every year.
It’s pretty black and white. In Maine, if you are driving a motor vehicle with a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent or more, you are guilty of a criminal offense known as Operating Under the Influence (OUI), according to the Maine Department of Public Safety. If you’re under the age of 21, you are not allowed to have any alcohol in your system when behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. Officers practice a strict zero tolerance policy with this one.
And not only do you want to stay out from behind the wheel when you’ve been drinking because you could wind up in a potentially fatal accident, but you also run the risk of landing in jail with a charge that can cost you roughly $7,000.
According to MSN Money, the costs associated with this charge come from court fees and fines, OUI classes, driver’s license fees, attorney fees, increase insurance rates, ignition interlocks and various other costs.
It’s a headache you should just want to avoid. You’ll have to take days off of work to appear in court. You might end up serving jail time. You’ll have to dish out cash for the court’s time. You’ll have to take alcohol-related courses. You could get slapped with a costly ignition interlock. You could end up paying a lot to get your license reinstated. You’re going to have to pay more for car insurance because companies now see you as a risk.
Just for a first offense, you’re looking at 30 days behind bars, a license suspension for 90 days and a fine of $500. In addition to all of these costs, you could lose your job and even be skipped over for new job opportunities. A drunk driving conviction doesn’t look good on anyone’s record.
These are risks that anyone and everyone should want to avoid. Stay safe and stay sober behind the wheel to avoid a whole heap of problems this summer.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident, contact Peter Thompson & Associates to schedule a confidential consultation to discuss your case. Call 1-800-804-2004.
More Blog Entries:
New App Aims to Deter Drunk Driving & Stop Car Wrecks,sMaine Injury Lawyer Blog, March 20, 2013
Victim Demands Stricter Sentences for Drunk Driving in Bangor,sMaine Injury Lawyer Blog, June 25, 2012