- On the 1st offense, the criminal can serve 6 to 9 months in jail, be charged $500 to $2,000 in charges, get their license suspended for 180 days to 1 year, and must have an IID installed in their car. Each additional offense can greatly increase these already harsh penalties. (Full list of Florida penalties for DUI offenses)
The consumption of alcohol can be a fun and safe way to kill time with friends, families and even strangers if done responsibly. It's too often that said responsibility is completely disregarded and time is no longer the only thing being killed. Believe it or not, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 30 people are killed every single day in motor vehicle crashes that involve a driver impaired by alcohol. In 2010, an enormous 10,228 were killed in DUI crashes, and over 1.4 million drivers were arrested and charged. (More interesting facts on alcohol-impaired driving)
Here are the facts; it's a reoccurring issue. Even when drunk drivers are convicted and charged with DUI, they seem to keep doing it again and again, as if they didn't learn the first time. This should tell you that there are not enough people out there fighting for harsher penalties. There are, however, attempts being made to reduce and punish drivers with illegal levels of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) that are currently in effect. In Florida, as well as 37 other states in the U.S. actively use Sobriety Checkpoints which are set up and manned by officers on main roads.
Sobriety Checkpoints are an effective way for officers to legally (through implied consent) stop and examine drivers through a Breathalyzer device, a field sobriety test, or both, to determine BAC. While it seems quite invasive of your privacy, it could potentially save a life in the event that an officer detains an intoxicated driver. (More on Field Sobriety Tests and Breathalyzers) These have proven impressively helpful in the battle against DUI accidents, but it's simply not enough. Florida only conducts 15-20 of these checkpoints per month in the entire state, which is considerably higher than some states that do only one or two per month, such as Oklahoma.
There are organizations such as International Drunk Driving Prevention Association (IDDPA), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), and other groups that focus on fighting to put an end to the dangerous occurrence of DUI. They have all proven very successful, with MADD assisting an impressive 61,000 DUI Victims in 2012 alone. According to MADD, a whopping 17 million Americans have admitted to drinking and driving.
Current sentences, fines and penalties for DUI vary depending on the state of the crime and the previous criminal history of the offender, but here are some possible repercussions for committing the crime in Florida.