The consequences of a DWI are not just in the punishment for the crime, but in the subsequent impacts, it can have on other aspects of your life. If the convicted individual is a parent, this can have a serious effect on their relationship with their child, regardless if they are splitting visitation time with the other parent.
If a parent were to get arrested for driving while under the influence, the court often finds that parent to be unfit to be responsible for the child, due to the high risk the parent had just put their child’s safety and well-being in. Although it may be the parents’ first time being arrested for such a crime, it is not uncommon for the court to revoke custody.
Even if this particular instance did not include kids in the car, the court will not perish the thought that there may have been other occurrences when the parent had driven their car while under the influence, and in some of those occurrences, the child was in the car.
The DUI or DWI, if there is a child support case ongoing, will most certainly be brought up and used against the relevant parent, to portray them as an unfit parent, prone to substance abuse and bad decisions. It is one thing to have a former spouse or co-parent accuse you of having drug or alcohol addiction, but these arrests substantiate and solidify the claims even further.