Round Rock DWI Lawyer

Drunk driving charges should not be taken lightly as they can have a dramatically negative impact on your life. Find out if your charge can be beaten by consulting with a Round Rock DWI lawyer.

Driving while intoxicated (DWI) is a serious offense and carries some heavy penalties. Due to the danger drunk driving poses, Texas has instituted a number of countermeasures, such as "no refusal weekends." If you have been charged with driving drunk, you should fight against it with everything you have.

A DWI conviction can change your life for the worse, but with the help of a Round Rock DWI lawyer from Hines & Holub, you might be able to avoid the worst of the penalties or see your charges dismissed completely.

Drunk Driving Charges and Penalties

A DWI charge is based on the blood alcohol content (BAC) of your breath, urine, or blood and the number of previous offenses you have. The charge can cover the use of motor vehicles on land, on the water, or in the air, so driving, boating, and flying drunk are all looked at as basically the same.

Your Round Rock DWI lawyer will help you determine what penalty you are likely to face:

• • Your first offense is a class B misdemeanor and carries a fine of up to $2,000 or up to 180 days in jail-or both.

• • If your BAC was above 0.15 percent, then the charge is bumped up to a class A misdemeanor with a fine of up to $4,000 or up to one year in jail-or both.

• • If you are charged with a DWI while carrying a child passenger, the charge is increased to a state jail felony with a much larger fine of up to $10,000 and between 180 days and two years in jail.

• • Your second DWI offense is a class A misdemeanor and includes a fine of up to $4,000 or up to one year in jail-or both.

• • Any third or subsequent offenses are felonies of the third degree, each carrying a fine of up to $10,000 and between two and ten years in prison.

License Loss for a DWI

These penalties are accompanied by a suspension of your drivers license after each offense, and the court may decide not to reissue it to you at all. This can have a devastating effect on your work, family, social life, and personal mobility.

Furthermore, if anyone involved in the accident suffered serious bodily injuries or died, then everything gets much worse as you will also be facing intoxication assault or intoxication manslaughter charges.

More Fallout from a Drunk Driving Conviction

If convicted, you will also have to deal with other kinds of fallout aside from the legal penalties. Your insurance company will drastically increase your rates after a DWI, especially if there was an accident. After you've accrued enough risk factors, they may decline to renew your policy and you will be left to sign with a high-risk insurer that could charge thousands of dollars per month.

Since a DWI is considered a full-blown crime, you will be marked as a criminal everywhere you go. This could even include colleagues, friends, and family treating you with the stigma of a criminal.

Possible Defenses Against a DWI

Every case provides defensive options, and your Round Rock DWI lawyer will find them and use them to protect your future. For example, we might find breaks in standard procedure or equipment maintenance. Whatever there is to use, we'll track it down:

• • The breathalyzer test was administered incorrectly

• • The breathalyzer was not tested regularly or maintained adequately

• • The arresting officer didn't follow proper procedure

• • There may have been no probable cause for the traffic stop

• • You may have a medical- or career-related reason for failing a breathalyzer test

Get Help from a Round Rock Drunk Driving Defense Attorney

If you have been charged with some form of drunk driving, you must fight the charges against you, because otherwise your life will be turned upside-down and everything will be put at risk.