12312001 - News Article - DUI dollar costs are sobering - Bills run high after being arrested for drunken driving - ROBERT CANTRELL

DUI dollar costs are sobering
Bills run high after being arrested for drunken driving
NWI Times
Dec 31, 2001
nwitimes.com/uncategorized/dui-dollar-costs-are-sobering/article_9418992f-8461-518c-b821-8d71f90f668a.html
CROWN POINT -- Drunken driving is costly and supports the livelihood of towing services, bail bondsmen, lawyers and counselors.

"The costs begin to add up as soon as the driver flunks the breath or field-sobriety test," said Steve Rudzinski, chairman of the Lake County Traffic Safety Council.

"We read them the implied consent law and take them back to the station. We have their car towed and most after-hours tows cost a minimum of $100," Rudzinski said, adding that if the car has been stored while the owner is in jail, a charge of $10 per day or more can be added.

With rare exceptions, the driver is placed in municipal jail. The driver can be bailed out the next morning for a bond that can cost anywhere from $400 to $900. "If they don't have bail, they get to sit and see the judge, and if it happens on a weekend, they could sit until Monday," Rudzinski said.

Once out, the driver has to hire a lawyer to defend him against criminal charges that carry penalties ranging from 90 days for first offenses to three years in prison for repeat offenders. Causing a traffic death while driving drunk is punishable by up to eight years in prison.

Rudzinski said, "The cheapest attorney I've heard of for driving under the influence runs about $800 and that is only if you had a low (blood-alcohol) test score, no previous convictions and haven't had an accident. If you have hurt or killed someone, then the price rises."

The driver must go before a municipal or county judge to get a so-called hardship license permitting him to drive to work and back home or because of a medical emergency, until the case is resolved.

Many drunken drivers, who go before a county judge, end up pleading guilty to an alcohol-related offense under an agreement in which jail time is suspended in return for the driver's undergoing therapy through an authorized social service agency. Some drivers may pick other substance abuse programs that offer similar services.

Such programs are administered by licensed substance abuse counselors and must be approved by a superior court judge who hears DUI cases. They are funded by the defendant through the courts, and failure to meet the payment is equal to failing the program, which results in the reinstatement of the original charge.

A typical program can cost anywhere from $100 to $300, depending on the depth of the offender's substance problem. The offender is required to attend a minimum of four classes over a month's period. Those with more serious problems may be required to seek additional treatment over a longer period of time.

Hammond's Addiction and Family Care divides offenders into three group-treatment programs that can cost as little as $250 and last only one week or as much as $600 and extend to eight weeks and beyond. Most pay $400 and must attend 12 sessions.

"If they discover you are an alcoholic, you keep going until they tell you that you can leave," Rudzinski said. And if the offender quits the program early, he will be arrested and have to serve the jail time that had been suspended on condition of his good behavior.

Nancy Fromm, director of Addiction and Family Care, said many offenders grumble about the drain on their finances, "but a big part of the treatment is paying for it because if you do, you take it more seriously. Basically, they have to be in pain to make the decision to quit drinking, and part of that pain is financial."