Many Florida residents are actively planning events over the upcoming Fourth of July holiday. With the holiday landing on a Tuesday this year, celebrations may well begin the prior weekend and last for several days. While this is a normal part of the summer, it is also important for people to consider their transportation needs as part of their planning in order to avoid troubles with a potential drunk driving arrest.
The United States Department of Transportation actively promotes its marketing campaigns aimed at curbing drunk driving and even increasing enforcement over key holidays including the Fourth of July. Part of these campaigns involve highlighting the number of people who are said to have died in accidents in which alcohol may have been a factor. Materials are aimed at not only law enforcement agencies but community organizatoins, municipalities and more.
In addition to strong outbound efforts to increase vigilance on the road during the holiday weekend, Florida’s laws can come down hard on a driver who has been arrested for and charged with driving under the influence.
Even someone who is charged with their first DUI offense may lose the right to drive and be required to pay high fines, perform community service, serve a probation sentence and even install an ignition interlock device in their vehicle. The penalties only increase with subsequent offenses, if a blood alcohol content is over 0.14 percent or if an accident may have occurred. Knowing how tough life can become after such an experience makes it even more important to proactively guard against it.