Counting Your Losses

Now let me talk to you and present a comparison of your losses versus your gains should you refuse all field and blood alcohol tests. Follow closely and you will see the wisdom behind my strategies and tactics that I just presented. You will see that you will save your drivers licence from being taken for lengthy periods of time as well as saving thousands of dollars in fines and insurance premiums.

First, if you properly parked your vehicle once stopped by the police, and well off the roadway, you may save money by not having your vehicle towed from the scene of the traffic stop. In refusing to submit to blood alcohol level testing, you will receive an automatic loss of license for about 6 months for a first time arrest. This is a loss for sure, but not a big one. And you may have to pay a restoration fee to the registry of motor vehicles to get your license back, so another loss. Now lets move on to the gains. If you have followed my advice and refused all field, sobriety and blood alcohol level tests, you have given the state a hard case to prosecute. And with a good lawyer, no jury or judge can convict you based on just an officers observations. So in court, the case will probably get dismissed or the charge changed to a lower offense. A complete victory for you. Just be sure the plea bargained reduction is not a reckless driving because the same fines and insurance premiums may be imposed against you. If is very doubtful the court will want to prosecute you because of their weak case, so most will plea bargain with a defendant and his attorney. So if you win in court and are not convicted for DUI / DWI. you will not have to face two days in jail, any fines which usually range around $500.00, you will not have to pay over $200.00 to attend an alcohol awareness program and most important, you will not face mandatory SR-22 insurance premiums on your automobile insurance policy. All states and insurance carriers require this SR-22 insurance which is essentially insurance on your drivers license. It is usually equal to or more than you currently pay for your automobile insurance. The average cost for the SR-22 insurance is $1,500.00 each year for 3 years or more. You do not have to pay this because you did not cooperate with the police and help them build a case against you so you could get convicted in court for DUI / DWI. And by having no conviction on your driving record, you do not face lengthy license suspensions in the future should you get stopped and cited for other traffic violations. And finally by not getting convicted for DUI / DWI. in court, you suffer no suspension or further loss of your operators license.