Being convicted of a DUI in California can have serious, life-altering consequences. While most of the penalties for DUI are straightforward, there are a number of problems that can occur in a chain reaction once you have been convicted of DUI and they can affect every aspect of your life. The following are a few of the consequences of being convicted of DUI that you may have overlooked.
10 Frequently Overlooked Consequences of a DUI Conviction
1. Getting a DUI can be a felony and you will receive a criminal record. While most first, second, and third driving under the influence of alcohol arrests are charged as misdemeanors, those that involve injury or deaths can be charged as a felony. Other ways that a DUI can escalate to a felony is if this is a third or more DUI or if you have had one prior felony DUI conviction.
2. You could be dropped from you current automobile insurance coverage or receive a large, unaffordable increase in insurance premiums. Your insurance company will find out about your DUI by checking the Department of Motor Vehicle records whey your policy comes up for renewal or when you submit form SR-22 which is required to reinstate a suspended California driver’s license.
3. Rejected From Job Opportunities
If you were an employer and had two identical resumes where one person has committed felony DUI and a has a criminal record, and the other person has a clean criminal record, who might you favor? This logic also could apply to job promotions and salary raises as well.
4. Fired From a Driving Job
Some employers have zero tolerance for employees convicted of DUI. Occupations where one actually drives for a living such as a school or municipal bus driver, package delivery truck driver or other professional drivers may immediately fire an employee convicted of DUI.
5. Forfeiture of professional License
Trusted professionals such as surgeons, school bus drivers, and airline pilots have the lives of other people in their hands and must be trusted to be sober 100% of the time. One of the purposes of requiring them to obtain a special license is to prevent those who abuse drugs and alcohol from receiving or renewing their license. Most of these licenses are required to be renewed annually and the governing associations will be notified of the criminal conviction for DUI when a routine criminal background check is undertaken.
6. While misdemeanor DUI will most likely have no effect on your ability to get an automobile loan at an affordable interest rate or a home mortgage, felony DUI may make it more difficult. Lending standards for major purchases may require both a clean credit and an unblemished criminal background report. If you have a felony DUI conviction you may not be able to drive the type of car you want nor live in the type of house that you would ordinarily be able to afford.
7. Refusal to Obtain a Firearm
A California felony DUI conviction will prohibit possessing a firearm of any type. In addition to no longer being able to protect yourself or your family, you will not be able to get a job that requires you carry a firearm such as those in law enforcement.
8. Cost of Renting an Ignition Interlock Device
If you are required to install an ignition interlock device on the devices under your control, you will have to pay not only for the installation but also make a large deposit on the equipment and pay a monthly rental fee.
9. Lost Income due to Felony Court Appearances and DUI Classes
If you are convicted of felony DUI, you will be required to appear in court several times and that will take you away from your business and prevent you from making money during that time.
10. If you refused chemical testing and are subsequently convicted of DUI, there are additional fines and a mandatory one year suspension of your driver’s license.
Being charged with DUI in California is a serious charge that should not be taken lightly. If you are pulled over, arrested, and charged with DUI, call the California DUI defense attorneys at The Kavinoky Law Firm immediately.
