-------- Original Message --------
Follow up on $17K DWI Cost Estimate
Hello, Gardner. I
just wanted to follow up on our conversation Friday. We
appreciate your invitation to share some additional points about
how we arrived at the $17,000 DWI cost figure.
It’s important to be clear about the campaign’s overall goal. In
a state where nearly 1,000 people are killed every year in
alcohol-related crashes, something has to be done to reduce this
staggering number. Our campaign uses the high cost of DWI to
motivate drivers to consider the financial risk of being caught
for driving while intoxicated so they will choose not to take
the chance.
As we discussed on Friday, the $17,000 number comes from
averaging the highest costs for specific DWI-related expenses
that our 2006 study found in six markets. We reduced the amount
of $19,000+ by $2,000 to acknowledge not everyone will be paying
the maximum.
“Weighted” is a term that you’ve also heard from our
agency, and that, too, needs some clarification. We should have
made it clear that while $17,000 is reflective of the reported
high costs of a DWI in the largest Texas cities, it isn’t a
weighted number. Since there are more alcohol-related crashes
and more arrests for drunk driving in major cities by virtue of
their larger populations, it also follows that more people are
paying big-city prices for their DWI mistakes. Because of the
higher volume of impaired drivers in Houston, DFW, Austin and
San Antonio, we could make the case that metropolitan DWI costs
should be considered the more likely set of expenses. We
chose not to do that.
Instead, we simply averaged the high-end costs in all markets,
even with incomplete data from the Valley. Since this approach
had the effect of actually lowering the overall high average
-- $19,000 v. the $22,000 it would have been had we
considered only the top four big cities in Texas – we believe
$17,000 is a reasonable and fair representation of what many
drivers shell out for a DWI, especially knowing there are
various auxiliary costs for this offense, too.
When you consider extra costs associated with DWI beyond what is
mandated by state law and individual counties, they vary widely
and include higher insurance rates, loss of current and future
income, and even alternate transportation if you lose your
privilege to drive for a few months. Even though expenses like
these are hard to quantify and pin down, they have to be taken
into account anyway – they are part of the financial burden
someone convicted of a DWI has to deal with, and they can add
thousands of dollars to the total DWI price tag.
We know, for example, that insurance rates go up for drivers
with a DWI on their driving records. It is considered a major
violation, and one that stays on a driver’s record for five
years. Preferred carriers, like State Farm, won’t even issue an
auto policy if a driver has had a DWI conviction. Since policy
rates depend on the driver’s age, county of residence, driving
record, type of vehicle, and policy limits, a conservative
estimate is that someone will likely pay at least $500/year in
additional premiums with a DWI on their record – every year for
five years. For many drivers, the insurance up charge will be
much, much higher.
Then there is the issue of lost income if someone gets fired or
has to take off work for hearings, probation visits or even to
serve some jail time. Would someone have to arrange for taxis to
take them to and from work if they couldn’t drive for several
months? Would they need to pay for counseling or treatment for a
drinking problem? Use the lowest realistic number you can think
of, and it’s going to drive up the cost of a DWI beyond what the
courthouse will ask for and what a defense attorney is likely to
charge.
Our contention is that $17,000 is a reasonable and
representative number to describe total DWI costs, and our
client agrees. Can a defendant get a cheap lawyer and spend less
money? Of course. Can court-mandated charges be reduced or even
eliminated because a judge assesses less than the
maximum penalty or doesn’t order an ignition interlock? Sure.
Even so, those “savings” easily can be offset by variable and
expensive auxiliary charges. However you choose to look at it, a
DWI conviction is expensive, whether we believe it’s $17,000, or
you prefer another price.
If only one person pays $17,000 for a DWI, saying DWI costs
$17,000 is a true statement. We believe thousands of offenders
have paid this amount and much more. If someone is dealing with
a second or third offense, the fine alone jumps from up to
$4,000 or $10,000.
This is not about who has the “right” number to describe how
much a DWI is going to cost, whether it’s the first conviction
or a subsequent one. It is about using the reality of a
substantial financial hit as a deterrent to get people not to
get behind the wheel if they have had too much to drink.
We think drivers need to know a lot of money is at stake if they
choose to drive drunk. This campaign, like every traffic safety
campaign our agency and TxDOT develops together, is about saving
lives and preventing injuries. That’s why we stand behind it
100%.
Robert
Robert Nash, PR Director
Sherry Matthews
Advocacy Marketing