Sometimes, even when you’ve sought out the expert help of a veteran DUI lawyer in Las Vegas, you just cannot get a full acquittal or dismissal for your case. At best, you can go for a reduced sentence or a plea bargain; at worst, you will have to settle with a guilty verdict with all the penalties attached. DUI charges are just like that, in a bid to discourage further criminal behavior due to drunk driving.
When you are serving out your sentence after a DUI conviction, it is wise to remember that not everything is about prison time or community service. The law provides DUI offenders with options to enter recovery programs to help steer them away from a possible repeat offense in the future. Listed below are a few of the recovery programs offered to DUI offenders in Las Vegas.
Communicating with Peers and Professionals
One of the most common requirements for a DUI offender in Las Vegas to serve his sentence is to attend community-based or NGO-backed meeting sessions. These series of discussions often include other DUI offenders, and may also have non-driving alcohol abusers as well. Alcoholics Anonymous is probably the most popular NGO that sponsors these types of meetings, though other organizations and religious movements also host their own alcohol abuse sessions to varying degrees.
If you are attending one of these meetings for the first time, you might question why there is a need to talk like this with other offenders in the first place. However, the intent is not about discussing how you all ended up with drunk driving-related cases; the intent is to see things from the perspective of other drunk drivers and see how their actions affect themselves and other people. In some cases, professionals are also on hand to listen, view the situation together, and offer advice on a continuing basis.
Enrolling in DUI School
Some say that one of the driving forces behind the prevalence of crime is the lack of education related to said crime. That is, some people do not know that what they are getting into is actually a serious criminal offense. Some defendants may be ignorant of the situation even after they’ve already been booked at the local jail.
The lack of knowledge about the dangers of DUI is one of the reasons why DUI schools exist. These private entities offer comprehensive courses for DUI offenders regarding drunk driving, its causes, and its physical and legal consequences. DUI school programs in Nevada are mostly aimed at first-time DUI offenders as an attempt to dissuade further convictions, but programs aimed at repeat offenders are sometimes available as well.
The Victim Impact Panel
One of most important things to consider about DUI is how much it affects the victims and the people related to them. One can only imagine the trauma and pain, physical and emotional, that survivors go through. Things can be worse for family and friends if the victim did not make it out alive.
In response to this, experts established a program where victims, their family, and their friends can share the experiences they went through during and after the time of the incident to DUI offenders. These meetings are known as victim impact panels and are tailor-made to be both a learning experience for convicted DUI offenders as well as a form of release for victims and their families. Victim impact panels spread awareness about the negative impact drunk driving can have on other people, and are meant to instill a sense of responsibility in convicted DUI drivers about how the lives of other people are in their hands.
Dealing with DUI offenders can be a tricky affair whether they are first-time offenders or repeaters, but it plays an important part in ensuring that such cases are minimized, if not outright eliminated.