Who?
Peter Romary, Director of Student Legal Services
When?
October 18, 2012
Where?
Student Legal Services (Mr. Romary’s office)
How?
In person interview
Why?
To learn about the legal aspect of the repercussions of drunk driving.
Peter Romary is a multi-award winning lawyer that has served East Carolina as the Director of Student Legal Services for over 18 years. Hailing from Britain, Mr. Romary holds both British and American law degrees. He is well versed in the nature of things here at East Carolina due to his many years of service. He truly has a genuine interest in helping the students he oversees. Because Mr. Romary knows the legal system better than anyone else here at East Carolina I chose to interview him on the legal charges pertaining to drunk driving. He explained to me if you are under 21 and are found any amount of alcohol in your system, you will be charged with a Driving After Consuming (DAC). Even worse, if you blow a .08 or are found to be appreciably impaired you will be charged with a Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) charge. He said if you happen to be less than 21 years old, chances are you will be charged with both of these indictments. He also stated the harsh penalties that result from these charges. If charged with a DAC, a student will lose his or her license and will experience a 90% insurance increase. If charged with a DWI, a student will lose their license for an even longer amount of time (oftentimes several years) and their insurance rate may be raised up to 400%. On top of all this, each of these charges will give the convicted student a criminal record for the rest of their life. He said the worst issue however was ending another person’s life as a result of your own careless decision to drive drunk. He also gave several words of advice based around helping students to avoid drunk driving. He wanted students to always have a designated driver, have a plan for their evening and how they are getting home at the end of the night. He recommends calling a cab in favor of a $10,000 DWI charge that could result from driving drunk. It was apparent in my interview with Mr. Romary that he cares about the university’s students. He want’s students here at East Carolina to look after one another and make our community as safe as it can possibly be.
blaynejohnson 