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DWI/Drunk Driving Laws in Texas

How they affect your McKinney or Collin County DWI Charges

To deter people from drinking and driving, or to punish those who choose to drink and drive, Texas has established very strict DWI laws. Drinking while driving in Texas risks your freedom, your finances, and your future. When you have been charged with driving while intoxicated (DWI), or to dissuade someone you love from risking a DWI offense, use this info to understand how your case and your life will be affected by Texas drunk driving laws.

In McKinney or Collin County, remember that your best option after a DWI arrest is to immediately contact McKinney DWI lawyer Will Underwood before you do or say anything.

10 things to know about the law and your drunk driving defense in McKinney

1. Silence is your friend

One of your basic legal rights when arrested is the right to remain silent to avoid self-incrimination. The fact is that anything you say can—and likely will—be used against you in court. Assert this right and contact the Underwood Law Office—an experienced DWI law firm in McKinney—and let us do the talking for you.

2. DWI is expensive

Beyond attorney fees and the possible loss of your job, you pay "conviction-based fees"—annual surcharges to the state—if convicted:

Your first DWI offense costs you $1,000 per year for three years.
Repeat DWI offender? You pay $1,500 per year for three years.
Ridiculously drunk? You pay $2,000 per year for three years if your blood alcohol concentration is 0.16 or greater.

3. DWI is a major lifestyle constraint

Convictions from the offense of driving while intoxicated (DWI) by use of alcohol or drugs result in the automatic suspension of your driving privileges for at least three months and as much as two years. Beyond the socially challenging limits this causes, this constraint has the power to seriously impair your livelihood, depending on where you live and work. Furthermore, the Department of Public Safety has the authority to suspend or revoke your driver license or driving privileges, after an opportunity for proper hearing, for the following reasons:

Failure to complete a DWI education program within 181 days if completion is a term of probation upon conviction of DWI
Failure to complete a repeat offender alcohol education program as required when convicted of DWI
Failure to complete a drug education program as required upon conviction of a drug offense

4. DWI is major trouble for minors

If you think Texas DWI laws are tough, they are even tougher for those who are under 21 years of age. The Transportation Code and Alcoholic Beverage Code provide for suspending driving privileges of minors for any detectable amount of alcohol.

5. DWI means more pain for minors

Texas uses strict DWI laws aimed at minors to persuade its youngest drivers to build good driving practices from the get-go. If you are under 21, you get an automatic suspension of driving privileges for convictions or failure to comply with these Alcoholic Beverage Code offenses:

Minor in possession
Attempt to purchase alcohol by a minor
Purchase of alcohol by a minor
Consumption of alcohol by a minor
Misrepresentation of age by a minor
Driving under the influence of alcohol by a minor
Failure to complete an alcohol awareness class

6. DWI means jail time and heavy fines

Your first DWI is punishable as a fine of up to $2,000 and 72 hours to 180 days of jail time.
The court may probate the jail sentence and waive the driver license suspension on the first offense only.
Your second DWI is punishable by a fine up to $4,000 and 30 days to one year of jail time.
Three or more DWI offenses will set you back as much as $10,000 and put you in the pen for 2 to 10 years.

7. Do not bring the kids along

If you are charged with DWI when you have a child passenger under age 15, be advised that this is a felony punishable by a fine up to $10,000 and a jail term for 180 days to two years.

8. Being punch drunk is a major felony

Intoxication assault is a Felony of the Third Degree in Texas, punishable by a fine up to $10,000 and confinement in the penitentiary for 2–10 years.

9. Belligerence is not one of your rights

In Texas, getting your driver's license puts you under the implied consent law, which means that you have automatically consented to a chemical test of your blood, breath, or urine to determine blood alcohol content or the presence of drugs. So, while silence can be your friend (see #1 above), know that belligerence is your enemy—if you refuse a drug or alcohol test, the state confiscates your drivers license until your court hearing. During the hearing, your test refusal will be used against you.

10. Taking a life destroys yours

An Intoxication Manslaughter conviction is Felony of the Second Degree, punishable by a fine up to $10,000 and 2–20 years in the pen.

Contact an experienced McKinney DWI Lawyer

Not all McKinney DWI lawyers are of the same calibre. If you need to present a solid McKinney drunk driving defense, put your trust in one of the only McKinney drunk driving lawyers with a defense litigation winning rate better than 84 percent. Contact the Underwood Law Office located in McKinney. Drunk driving laws in Texas are strict enough to permanently mar your life. For a fighting chance DWI defense in McKinney, put your trust solidly in McKinney drunk driving lawyer Will Underwood.