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A Minneapolis DWI Attorney Explains the Relationship of DWIs and DUIDs

On Behalf of | Jan 21, 2016 | Firm News |

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) report “The 2013-2014 National Roadside Survey of Alcohol and Drug Use by Drivers” indicates that, over the past 7 years, rates of drugged driving are climbing even as driving while impaired by alcohol is declining.

The result is that drugged driving is as potentially dangerous to the public as driving while impaired by liquor. The National Institute on Drug Abuse indicates that more than 11% of fatal collisions involve a vehicle operator driving under the influence of drugs.

In Minnesota, driving under the influence of drugs (DUID) is a crime. The penalties are the same as those for driving while impaired (DWI) with alcohol. Here are 5 facts that a Minneapolis DWI attorney wants you to know.

  • First, for the first DUID offense, you may be mandated to pay a $1,000 fine and be sentenced to a jail term of up to 90 days. Your driver’s license may also be revoked for as much as 90 days.
  • Second, for a second and third offense, the fines, potential jail terms, and any license revocation all climb steeply. For both a second and third offense, the fine can be as much as $3,000 and the prison term up to 1 year. For a second offense, the period of driver’s license suspension could be up to 180 days. For a third offense, it has the potential to rise to a year.
  • Third, the state of Minnesota defines a DUID as driving of being in physical control of a vehicle while being under the influence of a controlled substance, or knowingly being under the influence of a substance that could affect his or her brain, nervous system, or muscles in a way that could impair the ability to drive or operate the motor vehicle, or when the driver’s body shows a controlled substance listed in Schedule I or II other than tetrahydrocannabinols or marijuana.
  • Fourth, if you are convicted of a DUID, it will be counted as a prior conviction for DWI in the event of receiving a subsequent conviction whether that conviction is a DUID or a DWI.
  • Fifth, there is an implied consent rule for blood and urine testing. Refusal to take the test can be admitted into evidence in court.

Please contact us if you need to speak to an experienced attorney.