But what isn’t always known by most is that effects of DUI will last for years, even a decade. The punishments actually serve as a barrier from getting past offense and moving on with your life for many years to come. This is because initial punishments cause a domino effect of problems that can propagate through several years of someone’s life.

First, you’re forced to take a considerable amount of time off from work to perform your community service which usually involves picking up litter on side of highway. If you’re paid by hour that’s a considerable loss of income! If you’re paid in salary there goes your whole vacation allotment for entire year (if you haven’t used it up already). This is assuming that you even have a way to get to work since your license has been temporarily suspended. The irony of all of this is that with all of this commotion you’re likely to lose your job while you need money to pay all of fines!

Read this scenario and ask yourself if this could be you?

Your good friend just moved into a new home a few blocks away from where you live. It’s going to be fun living so close to such a good friend. They invite you over for a welcoming dinner get together Friday night. You attend and there are a couple of other people there that you know. You arrive around 7:30 PM and are offered a social glass of wine. You accept to be polite and hold wine without really drinking much, maybe 2 or 3 sips socially.

Dinner is served around 8:15 PM and you sit down to a nice dinner with a group of old friends. At dinner you enjoy 1 full glass of wine and relax into some good conversation. After dinner everyone moves into living room where you sit and discuss an upcoming event that you all are excited about. As you all talk host brings you another glass of wine. You realize that you need to drive home so you don’t really drink wine but just hold it to be social. You end up taking another 2 or 3 sips maximum. You say your good-bye’s around 9:15 PM and head home.

You only live a few blocks away but as you drive you see something strange in distance. You see a series of bright lights ahead and a bunch of cones spread out along road. As you continue to drive cones get closer and closer together forming a funnel that limits access to road forcing you to drive directly towards bright flashing lights. Your eyes were already adjusted to dark night and upcoming bright lights are disorienting you a bit as you drive towards them. The combination of cones re-directing traffic pattern along with bright lights makes you unsure of exactly where you’re supposed to drive on road.