AS A FIRST TIME OFFENDER CONVICTED OF DRIVING WHILE IMPAIRED YOU CAN BE SUBJECT TO JAIL TIME.

Scenarios under North Carolina law that may require jail time for a DWI include:

1. Child in the Vehicle If you had a child under 18, a person with the mental development of a child under 18, or a person with a physical disability preventing unaided exit in your vehicle, this triggers a Level 1 judgement with a minimum of 30 days in jail and up to 2 years max.

2. High BAC (0.15 or higher) An alcohol concentration of 0.15 or more is an aggravating factor that significantly increases your likelihood of jail time. This factor increases the likelihood of a Level 3 judgment carrying 72 hours to 6 months jail.

3. Someone Got Hurt If your impaired driving seriously injured someone, this is a grossly aggravating factor that triggers a Level 2 judgement with a minimum of 10 days in jail and up to 1 year max.

4. Reckless or Dangerous Driving Especially reckless or dangerous driving, negligent driving that led to a reportable accident, or excessive speeding (30+ mph over the limit) are aggravating factors that can increase your sentencing level.

5. Multiple Aggravating Factors will Stack Up The court weighs all aggravating factors against mitigating factors. Level 3 sentencing (72 hours to 6 months jail) is likely to apply when there are significantly more aggravating factors than mitigating ones.

Take away: It is important to contact a local DWI Lawyer for more guidance on your DWI charge.