Afraid of Commitment? Don’t Risk a Fourth DWI in New Mexico!

For some people, a first-offense DWI can be a turning point in life. In states like New Mexico, there are strict consequences for a first-offense DWI that help keep an offender from drinking and driving again that help drive home the need to remain sober behind the wheel. Ignition interlock devices, for example, prevent drinking and driving when they’re used as ordered by the court. Unfortunately, there is no 100 percent effective way of stopping a person who wants to drive while intoxicated, and after a DWI offender gets through a short-term ignition interlock requirement, some may continue to drink and drive.

DWI offenders in New Mexico may find themselves with a long-term lifestyle change as a result of habitually drinking and driving. On a fourth DWI conviction in New Mexico, the ignition interlock requirement is raised from months and years to a lifetime requirement. This means that unless an offender realizes that their behavior is wrong and works to fix the impulse to drink and drive, the state will step in and take away the chance of another DWI offense with the help of an ignition interlock device.

Some “turning points” take longer than others, and it may take some time for a DWI offender to realize the dangerous nature of their actions. Despite the lifetime ignition interlock requirement for a DWI offender in New Mexico, if “good behavior” is proven by their device, they could eventually have the requirement dropped. New Mexico reviews its “lifetime interlock” offenders’ records every five years, and in that time, plenty of good decisions could be made, and recorded, in order to fully reclaim the freedom to drive normally.

There are better commitments to make in life than to an ignition interlock device, like a commitment to sober driving. Instead of waiting years to prove your ability to drive safely after a series of DWI offenses, you could just plan a sober way home anytime you will be drinking. That’s one commitment nobody should be afraid to make.