Drunk Driving (DUI) - Budapest, Hungary

Since the introduction of „zero tolerance”, the laws prescribe even harsher punishments for drunk driving (drink driving, DUI) than before. Beside a fine running to several hundred thousand Forints, your driver’s licence may be suspended for a couple of years, you may be obliged to take a drunk driving (drink driving, DUI) rehabilitation course, but in an extreme case you may even receive a suspended or an executable prison term.

What can you expect if you drove while under the influence of alcohol?
If the blood alcohol content in the body does not reach a blood alcohol concentration of 0.5 gramme of alcohol per one litre of blood, viz 0.25 milligramme of alcohol per litre of breath, the act is not a criminal offense but an infraction.

In case of a crime:
It is a criminal act if the amount of alcohol from liquor consumption in the organism of a driver is capable of producing a measurement exceeding a blood alcohol concentration of 0.5 g/L, viz 0.25 milligramme of alcohol per litre of breath.

In such instances the penalty may be much harsher:

• A fine, which may be even several hundred thousand forints,
• Suspension of a driver’s licence for a period of at least one month while not exceeding 10 years, or permanent revocation of a driver’s licence,
• Compulsory drunk driving (drink driving, DUI) rehabilitation course: If the authority handling infractions orders the full suspension of your driver’s licence for a period exceeding 6 months, or if the court, due to a criminal act, imposes on you a full disqualification from driving, you are obliged to take a drunk driving (drink driving, DUI) rehabilitation course, the cost of which is 70 – 140 thousand forints.

If you have already been held accountable for driving under the influence of alcohol and/or personal injury happened, you are facing a much harsher penalty.

If you are a multiple offender, you are facing a suspended prison term or an executable prison term, and the permanent revocation of your driver’s licence.

The sooner you ask for legal help, the likelier that the case will have a favourable outcome. Call us, we are available even on weekends!

How can you know you are charged with driving while intoxicated (which is not an infraction)?
If the blood alcohol content in your body exceeds a blood alcohol concentration of 0.5 gramme of alcohol per one litre of blood, viz 0.25 milligramme of alcohol per litre of breath, the act is a criminal offense. If the investigating authority has not interviewed you and has not informed you that you are charged with the crime of drunk driving (drink driving, DUI), but you have been arrested (for a blood test and/or breath alcohol concentration test), you may be sure you are suspected of having committed a criminal act of drunk driving (drink driving, DUI). If the alcohol concentration is below the threshold value of criminal offence, you would normally be not detained.

Why is it worth consulting with a lawyer as soon as possible, if you were stopped for drunk driving (drink driving, DUI)?

After learning the circumstances of your case, with formulating an appropriate defense strategy, it is possible to reduce the penalty imposable for driving under the influence of alcohol, and, in some cases, it is possible to avoid criminal liability.

We may determine the foundation of defense strategy on basis of a personal consultation with our client and the study of documents available (the text of the charges, minutes of alcohol tests, preliminary expert opinion, minutes of interrogation, perhaps a police report …). On basis of these, we are in a position to determine the primary objective of formulating a defense. These objectives may be the following:

• Avoiding criminal liability
• Regaining an existing full driver’s licence
• Limiting the suspension to a certain vehicle category (or categories)
• Minimising the term of suspension
• Reducing the amount of fine

What can I learn in a consultation?
At our first meeting, we give our clients a one-hour, individualised consultation on your rights, obligations, options during the criminal proceedings, the type and size of the expectable penalty, and the necessary steps. Following this consultation you will be able to freely decide whether to employ the professional help of our expert criminal lawyers. You need, however, to be aware that legal help is not a panacea. There is no legal solution which acquits everybody of a charge.

 

dr. Adam Lakatos
criminal lawyer