DWI Attorney

A DWI attorney provides criminal defense for drivers who have been charged with a DWI (driving while intoxicated). A DWI is an act of operating an automobile under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. Each year motor vehicle accidents kill an estimated 300,000 people in the world. Most of these deaths involve drunken drivers. A DWI is a serious crime whether or not it is associated with vehicular homicide. If you have been charged with a DWI, you should seek the legal advice and representation of a reputable DWI attorney.

Before one would require the assistance of a DWI attorney he/she should know that operating an automobile involves certain responsibilities to oneself and to others. A driver must be continuously alert while making a variety of driving maneuvers, such as speeding up, slowing down, changing lanes, turning and stopping, etc.

A DWI attorney can tell you that as little as one drink of alcohol or the ingestion of a small amount of an illegal drug can impair your ability to drive safely. Thus, you should never drive an automobile under the influence of alcohol and or drugs. If you are a first time DWI offender, a DWI attorney will also advise you that you should never again drive while under the influence of alcohol and/or drugs.

The method that is usually used for measuring intoxication is to test the driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC). The BAC is the percentage of alcohol in the individual’s blood. This percentage is also called the blood alcohol concentration and is later cited by a DWI attorney. BAC limits typically range from about 0.05 % to about 0.10 %.

If a police officer suspects a driver to be under the influence of alcohol or drugs, he will stop the driver and perform an alcohol breath test or field sobriety tests. During the field sobriety test, the police officer may ask the driver to walk in a straight line or balance on one leg. If the driver does not pass the breath alcohol test or the field sobriety test, he or she is arrested and taken into police custody. Also, the blood is screened for illegal drugs.

A DWI attorney can review your police records and the results of the tests to determine whether you should have been arrested and charged with a DWI. If a DWI attorney finds that you were not legally drunk or were not under the influence of illegal drugs, he can have the court dismiss the DWI charges against you.

However, if your records reveal that you were legally drunk or under the influence of illegal drugs while operating an automobile, you should never appear before a judge without being represented by a DWI attorney. There are penalties for driving while intoxicated even if no one was injured or killed.

Some of the penalties are fines, suspension or revocation of your driver’s license and a jail or prison sentence. Also, you may be assigned to an alcohol or a drug abuse program. If there were injuries or deaths resulting from the DWI, the penalties can be very stiff despite you being a first time offender or having a reliable DWI attorney.

A DWI attorney will make sure that all of the points of law and facts that favor his or her client’s DWI case are brought to the court’s attention. Thus, a DWI attorney can help to lower your fines, reduce a jail or prison sentence or help to prevent the suspension or revocation of your driver’s license.

A DWI may appear on your record for several years. Because of this, you may be charged high automobile insurance rates or denied automobile coverage. A DWI attorney can help you obtain automobile insurance coverage even if you may have been denied coverage by several insurers.

The fees and services may greatly vary for each DWI attorney. You should consult at least three different DWI attorneys in your area to compare fees and services offered.

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