A DUI charge is not only damaging to the person who receives it, but also to their partner.
You May Experience Strains
If your spouse has a DUI charge that's successful, you are also on the hook for the costs that come with it. Fines can be several thousand dollars. If a spouse loses a license, and you have children, it may place a burden on you to provide transportation for them and do all of the house errands yourself. And if your spouse loses their job, or needs your help getting to work, that's a burden. Aside from that, a DUI on record may affect your spouse's future earning potential if employers find out. With all of these consequences, it makes sense that getting off of a DUI charge is extremely important.
Hiring a Lawyer Is Helpful
It's not over until it's over; a person arrested for a DUI can still be excused from the accusation in court. It will depend upon hiring a great DUI lawyer, though. The laws regarding DUI make it very important for a police officer to provide sound evidence, and a good lawyer can often knock down the evidence. Blood alcohol tests aren't always perfect. The evidence presented by field sobriety tests could be refuted. If the intoxication was related to potential drug use, get your own drug testing to try and refute the suspicion of a charge.
Even if a DUI charge is likely, your lawyer will be helpful to your family in trying to argue for the spouse to keep their license. That can happen if there are extenuating circumstances, such as if losing the license would negatively impact a child who needs transportation. An ignition lock device can be placed on the car to ensure that the driver is not intoxicated.
Address the Elephant in the Room
Aside from trying to help your spouse get away from serious consequences of driving while intoxicated, you may also need to consider how this incident affects your partnership. At best, your partner has some flawed ideas about whether they should take the risk of drinking or using substances while driving. At worst, this may be a wake-up call that you need to help this person seek help for substance abuse. Maybe this time, your spouse gets away with a fine or even gets out of a DUI charge altogether. But the consequences of drinking while driving can be destructive and even fatal; it may be time to broach the subject of treatment, using this and other incidents to describe how you feel about their substance abuse.
Contact a company like Pecos Drug Testing for more information and assistance.
