Misinformation about criminal charges is everywhere. There are a lot of people who mistakenly think that charges related to situations where no one got hurt are negligible. A driving while intoxicated (DWI) offense is often victimless.
If you got swept up in a sobriety checkpoint or pulled over by police, you didn’t cause injury or property damage to anyone. That might make you think that the first time charge won’t carry significant consequences. However, Texas has relatively strong penalties for even a first offense.
How Texas penalizes impaired driving charges
There are a number of different consequences and charges that someone can face due to allegations of driving while impaired. Factors such as extremely high blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or the presence of minors in your vehicle could increase the charges and penalties involved in your situation.
If there are no aggravating factors, the penalties you face will include a fine of as much as $2,000, between three and 180 days in jail and the loss of your driver’s license for up to a year. There will also be a state fine of $3,000 and additional costs for court, insurance and getting your license back. Finally, there’s the impact of a criminal record to consider, as it could cost you housing, employment and educational opportunities in the future.
Instead of pleading guilty and facing incarceration and other penalties, you might want to consider hiring a criminal defense attorney. Depending on the circumstances at the time of your arrest, there could be multiple ways for you to push back against drunk driving charges.