Once I was in the back of the police car, an extremely lonely and weirdly familiar place given it’s constant depiction in movies and TV, the officers informed me that I would likely lose my driver’s license for six months. This meant I couldn’t drive to and from work. Actually, it meant I couldn’t drive to and from anywhere. Additionally, I would need to pay a fine ($2,100) to the court and show up in court where I could hire a lawyer (DUI lawyers start at $1,200, and I ended up spending about $1,800) or have one assigned to me and then it would be decided if I would do community service, or have to attend Mothers Against Drunk Driving seminar, or go tour a morgue to see the cadavers of drunk drivers and their victims.

Natasha Vargas-Cooper tells Bundle about the true costs of a DUI. Terrific story.