Texas laws on drinking and driving are some of the strictest in the nation and the state of Texas issues financial penalties in addition to the traditional punishments given to DWI (Drinking While Intoxicated) offenders. Those penalties and the local statistics would be of concern for any driver who considered drinking and driving within the state boundaries.



Traditionally Texas counties were divided into wet counties and dry counties where the wet counties sold alcohol and the dry counties did not. Today most Texan counties are mixed, both wet and dry. Texas' state capital, Austin, is in Travis County, which is a wet county, with dry areas. Austin is a wet city, yet has certain restrictions to it being wet. For example, beer or alcohol can be purchased from certain businesses yet sometimes those drinks may not be consumed in the place of purchase. The wet counties and dry counties change regularly, depending on who is voted into office.



There are more DWI and DUI (Driving Under the Influence) in Texan dry counties than in Texan wet counties. The Texas 2007 statistics say that there were more than 500 DWI incidents per 100,000 residents in the dry counties compared to less than 500 DWI incidents per 100,000 residents in the wet counties. During that time there were more than five alcohol related fatalities in the dry counties verses less than three alcohol related fatalities in the wet counties. While the legal BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) is .08, in most alcohol-related fatalities, the driver had a BAC of .16 or higher.

In several states, including Texas, DWI and DUI are used interchangeably. In Austin DUI is used primarily for minors pulled over for drinking and driving, yet this is not a hard and fast rule. Texas policy on minors drinking is zero tolerance and if a person under the age of twenty-one is pulled over for DUI s/he goes to jail immediately and his/her license is suspended for up to 180 days.

If a person is pulled over in Austin, Texas, for DWI the first thing the Austin police officer does is to check the driver's BAC. If the driver is found intoxicated they are read their Miranda Rights. Austin attorneys emphasize the importance of drivers listening closely to what the DWI arresting officer says. The person is then taken to the police house where the booking process begins and it includes taking the driver's fingerprints, measuring their height and weight and taking the person's photograph. After this process is completed the person is allowed one phone call where usually a family member or friend is called and asked to find a local, Austin attorney. After talking to the lawyer the driver is usually released; unless it is after hours, then the person must spend the night in an Austin jail. However, if it is a first offense, the driver may be released after hours with a hobby release from a judge. A court date is set for several weeks after the arrest for the judge to review the case and administer appropriate state DWI punishments.