What are the chances of going to jail for a driving offense?

There are many factors that determine if a driver will get jail time for a driving offense. Vehicular homicide is undoubtedly where any offender is likely to face a long prison term. For the most part, state laws, the location, and the vehicles involved play an important part in the court sentence.

For example, truck accidents are usually more complex since these vehicles are governed by a different set of laws as compared to smaller vehicles. In addition, in some states like Maryland, drivers guilty of their first DUI can face up to 1 year in jail  while in other states a DUI offender may be required to do prison time for the second or third DUI conviction.

Vehicular Homicide/Manslaughter

When reckless driving by an individual causes death then the offender is likely to be charged with vehicular homicide and will certainly need a Baltimore, MD accident lawyer for defensive purposes (http://accident.usattorneys.com/maryland/). In such a case, negligent driving is deemed to have caused the death of an individual. On the other hand, in some states the defendants are simply charged with murder or manslaughter.

Maryland accident attorneys know that a judge would consider several factors surrounding the case prior to determining the sentencing for vehicular homicide. The penalties may include up to 10 years or more in prison in addition to fines and revocation of the offender’s driving privileges. If you really did something like this you would really be guilty for life though. Subconsciously, it would eat at you forever.

After you serve your time and then return to civilian life you will have to find a job and catch up with the world if that is possible. By this point, you would have already apologized to the family of the deceased and lost all of your possessions and so on. Even if you do find a decent job when you get out and begin to make some progress with your life you will never be able to escape the fact that your selfish behavior ruined one life fatally and probably several others psychologically.

The victims might be a pedestrian, passenger in the defendant’s car, driver of another vehicle or a cyclist. The prosecutor will have to prove that a violation by the driver caused the accident which led to the death. This means even if you have committed a minor misdemeanor you can still be convicted for vehicular homicide. In addition, the court will consider the circumstances that caused the accident where sometimes a driver may get away with a suspended sentence.

Serious Penalties

The charge against a drunk driver is escalated to a more serious misdemeanor if the other driver, passenger, or pedestrian suffered an injury in a DUI crash. The penalty for an impaired driver with a BAC of less than .08% and who causes an accident can include 2 years in jail if he or she causes life-threatening injuries to another driver, passenger, or pedestrian. The jail time may be enhanced to 3 years if they were driving drunk which means their BAC is over .08%.

Jail Time for First Time DUIs

As mentioned earlier, first time DUI offenders are likely to face a prison sentence which can be significantly longer if it is proved that alcohol caused an accident and the death of one or more individuals. However, there are exceptions where a Baltimore, MD accident lawyer may be able to get a driver off the hook or at least have the charges mitigated and somewhat erased.

Can you hit a curve ball? Either literally or figuratively? Well, in this case, life is not tossing you a curve ball, you did this to yourself. You need to go right here: http://accident.usattorneys.com/maryland/ and find yourself a Baltimore, MD accident lawyer because you do not want to have pay with your bank account or your time any more than you should. 

This happens if the lawyer is able to prove that his or her client cooperated with the officers at the scene, took a drug test willingly, or the driver suffer from impairment of some kind. Lawyers have the skills and resources to identify loopholes in police procedures and local court policies.

If you run the risk of being charged with a DUI following an accident it would be appropriate to consult a Maryland accident lawyer as soon as possible.