In a standard DWI case, you’ll be hit with many programs, and many of them are referred to by initials. Let’s take a couple of moments so I can describe each one of these programs for you.
STEP is a program given by the county. It’s a referral program. If you have a blood alcohol content of 0.13 or higher, but virtual in every case no matter what the reading, the court will mandate you, require you to get evaluated. It’s called an alcohol and drug abuse screening. You’ll go to a STEP program, they will give you a referral, a screening, and an evaluation.
The next is called TASC. TASC, Treatment Alternatives to Street Crime, is an agency that works with the court that will not only evaluate and screen you but will set up a treatment program and report back to the court. It’s a form of probation.
VIP, Victim Impact Program, is performed by MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving. The court will require and mandate you to attend a session of VIP. It’s where you go into a room with other people similarly accused of drunk driving, many of whom have been convicted, and you will hear the horror stories of family members who have been impacted and lost family members killed by a drunk driver.
IDP is the new Department of Motor Vehicle Impaired Driving Program. It used to be called DDP; it’s now called IDP. It is basically a program administered by the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles. It’s a requirement if you are to get a conditional license. It requires seven classroom meetings of an hour and a half each and a referral to a social worker. It is a condition of a conditional to and from license.
Finally, we have IID, Ignition Interlock Device. If you are convicted of driving while intoxicated in New York State, the court will and must make you put a device in your car. It’s a tube like a breathalyzer that you blow into not only to start your car, but every 5 to 15 minutes, you’ll have to continually blow into the tube, give a breath sample that has no alcohol in it. Those are the initials that are associated with every drunk driving case.
If you are in need of legal counsel in New York State, please feel free to contact Grunwald & Seman, P.C. and we would be happy to assist you.
