Experience is often the best teacher, especially when you’ve faced the consequences of an OWI conviction in Mississippi. However, not everyone learns from the first time they’ve had to pay court costs or spend a few nights in jail, especially since a first-offense OWI is often brushed off as a mistake. Any OWI offense is proof that a person is unable to be safe on the road, especially since it is estimated that any offender has driven 80 times while intoxicated… but managed to not get caught in the process.
For those who continue to drink and drive, the stakes get much higher with each conviction. For example, Mississippi is one state that will gladly remove your chance at a third or higher OWI offense by impounding or immobilizing your vehicle. The problem with this is when you take away a vehicle; it isn’t only the OWI offender who is affected. There could be other family members who rely on the vehicle and driver in order to work, go to school or even seek medical care. In these cases, it is possible to keep a vehicle from being impounded or immobilized by installing an ignition interlock device.
When you install an ignition interlock device, you are ensuring the court and everyone else that you are sober when driving. In return, you are allowed to keep your car and the ability to operate it. You’re still working, you’re keeping your household running smoothly, and you are not drinking and driving.
If you didn’t learn from your first OWI conviction, perhaps the incentive you need to change your perspective on drinking and driving is the loss of your vehicle. With an ignition interlock device, however, your loved ones don’t have to keep paying for your mistake, and you have a better chance of never taking that risk again.
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