If you need any more reasons not to drink and drive, consider this: A driving-under-the-influence conviction is a financial wrecking ball. A typical DUI costs about $10,000 by the time you pay bail, fines, fees and insurance, even if you didn’t hit anything or hurt anybody.
A fine is just the start of what you’ll pay for a drunken-driving conviction. Insurance-rate increases, legal bills, alcohol treatment and licensing fees can push the cost into five figures.
The penalties are intended to be discouraging. Alcohol played a role in nearly 40% of U.S. automobile fatalities in 2005. That’s 16,885 deaths, a figure nearly unchanged over the past decade, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
But states are cracking down. The last of the 50 states have lowered their thresholds for DUI to 0.08% blood-alcohol content. Police arrested 1.37 million people last year for driving under alcohol’s grip, about one in every 140 licensed drivers, the FBI says.
But forget the humiliation and hassle for now. Forget the toll on lives. Just look at what a DUI does to your wallet:
Bail. You’ll have to shell out bail to get released after your arrest. Cost: $150-$2,500.
(Costs shown in this article are for first-time DUI offenders. Costs and penalties are often more severe if you’re a repeat offender or your blood-alcohol content is above 0.15%.)
http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Insurance/InsureYourCar/DUIThe$10000RideHome.aspx



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