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In this emotional and eye-opening episode of the Pink Money Podcast, Jerry sits down with guest Brock Horn, who shares the staggering financial, legal, and personal fallout from his two DWIs by age 27.
Brock walks us through the hidden costs—lawyer fees, court fines, mandatory classes, Uber rides, lost wages, probation costs, and even hospital bills—that added up to over $60,000 and years of stress. He also opens up about surviving a devastating car accident that left him temporarily paralyzed, the impact on his credit and career, and the lessons he learned about money, responsibility, and resilience.
Takeaway: Whether you’ve ever considered “just driving home” after a few drinks or know someone who might, Brock’s story is a sobering reminder that the true price of a DUI goes far beyond the courtroom.
Episode 4 - Jerry talks with Brock about the financial impact of his DUI's,
SPEAKER_01:
Everybody, welcome to the Pink Money Podcast. I'm your host, Jerry Williams, and we're here to look at things from an LGBT plus perspective. And today, what we're going to look into and talk about is the ramifications and the financial impact that having a DUI can have on your life. So I brought in a guest. His name is Brock Horn, and Brock is going to kind of talk us through his ordeal. and how it affected him. Just to tell everybody, you're not gay. No,
SPEAKER_00:
no, but I do support the community.
SPEAKER_01:
Awesome. And, you know, like in this case, this is sort of a universal situation. It really doesn't. matter if you're gay or not
SPEAKER_00:
yeah the lawyers and the judges won't care
SPEAKER_01:
yeah when you're arrested you're arrested
SPEAKER_00:
yeah there's it doesn't matter sex age gender there there is no uh no getting out of it it's definitely not a cheap cheap entry fee that's for sure um so
SPEAKER_01:
well you told me the story you know a little while back and i know the basics of it um Because again, I know that it was fairly traumatic, your situation that occurred. And I know that the other part of it too, is I think it's affected your ability to do some of the things that you wanted to do.
SPEAKER_00:
Oh, definitely. Because you're 20. Yeah, I'm 27 now. My first one was when I just turned 21. I turned 21 July 10th of 2015, and on August 8th is when I got in my first, that's when it happened, the first wreck. And my second one was February 23rd of 2019. But yeah, both of them. My first one... I was hanging out with friends, had way too much to drink, and I was trying to drive home, like most people do, and I ended up falling asleep at the wheel, and I ran into the back of a semi, totaled my car. They took me to a hospital. Luckily, there were no serious injuries. It was just a TBI, traumatic brain injury, with some lacerations from the glass, and they did the blood draw there. And
SPEAKER_01:
you were by yourself?
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, luckily I was by myself and no one else was injured, which I'm thankful for that. I
SPEAKER_01:
guess you didn't hurt the semi either. No,
SPEAKER_00:
to say the least. It was just my car, which was totaled. And at the time I didn't have insurance on it. And I owed$18,000 on the car whenever it got totaled. And then, so as soon as I got released from the hospital, I already knew I was guilty. So I went ahead, got a lawyer.
SPEAKER_01:
So when they came, the paramedics or the police or whatever, did they just automatically, like, if you were okay, and then they threw you in jail? Is that kind of how it works?
SPEAKER_00:
No. So if there's a wreck involved or property damage, you have to go to a hospital to do a blood draw. You can't do a field sobriety test because you could be– messed up from the wreck, so your equilibrium could be off, or you just may not be in the right mindset to do a field sobriety test. That makes sense. Standard protocol is they're just going to take you to a hospital and administer a blood draw. Now, it typically takes three to four months for them to get those results back because it's sent off to a lab, and there's only one lab in the state of Texas that'll do it. So it takes three to four months, which gives you time to, I guess, prepare for the upcoming battle. The hell that's coming your way. Yeah, so... In those couple of months, I was able to find a good lawyer for a decent price. And when I say decent price, it was a$5,000 retaining fee. which is about the going rate in this area for a first EWI. I was in the military at the time, and I was deploying soon, so I told them I needed what's called an expedited case, like open-close case. I already knew I was guilty, so I was like, there's no point in really fighting it. It's... Um, so I paid the lawyer, the five grand, they issue a arrest warrant. I did what's called a walkthrough process. So once the warrant is issued, um, you can do what's the walkthrough. So you'll pay your bond prior to even going in. So my bond was, I want to say like, five thousand dollars and you pay ten percent of that to a bonds company so that's another five hundred dollars um you go up to the bonds company they're gonna you they'll take you to jail and you just pretty much walk through they take your fingerprints your photo that type of stuff you'll sit in jail for two to three hours at most for them to basically read you what you're being charged with and then they just release you so i did that and then My lawyer's like, you need to do what's called the big three. So there's three classes that you'll have to do. It's a Mothers Against Drunk Driving class, which I think is$75. Then there was two other classes that are just mandated. You're going to have to do them, so you might as well do them before the judge requires you to do them. So in total, I think those three classes were probably... Probably a$300 to$400 for those three classes. I got them knocked out as fast as possible just so there was nothing hanging over my head. And we could present that to the judge like, look, he's trying. He's already got this done. So we got that. So by that point, I'm already$6,000 in before I even go in front of it before I'm charged. And then my lawyer gets me a court date. We set it up. He's like, we're just going to do a plea deal. Go in. The judge is like, all right, here's what we can do. It was a one-year license suspension. And then I had to pay$5,000 over the course of three years. It was restitution and something else. So in total, the first one would have cost me about$12,000 to$15,000. And that's... For a year, my license is suspended, so then you have all the... You can't drive, so add up all the Uber fees. You know, if a friend wants... If you need to go somewhere and you don't want to order an Uber, you got to pay your friend's gas money or whatever. And then... Of course, the jail isn't there. The courthouse wasn't close by and it was it took like three months for me to get the expedited case. So I'm having to Uber to and from the courthouse. And so, yeah, the first one was twelve to fifteen thousand just in legal terms. legal money did
SPEAKER_01:
your lawyer kind of tell you hey man this is going to be pricey
SPEAKER_00:
oh yeah from the from the front he told me he's like hey just so you know the first dw is 15 000 just just out and that's if they don't that's the average going rate is 15 000 now
SPEAKER_01:
i assume it would have been a lot worse if there were an accident like another car or person
SPEAKER_00:
involved oh definitely if um So the semi, like, it barely even bent their bumper or anything, so they never came after me as far. They have three years from the time it happens, though. They have three years to basically take you to court, and if they wanted to, they could have charged me for the back bumper or whatever. But, yeah, if there was another vehicle involved or someone else was injured, then they definitely could have really racked up the money then because... I mean, if someone's injured, I have to cover those medical bills, and I didn't have insurance at the time on the vehicle. And the vehicle, like I said, I owed$18,000 on that, plus the$15,000 in legal fees. And
SPEAKER_01:
how did the bank handle that situation? Because you obviously told them, hey, car's no longer collateral. It's a pile of... Yeah,
SPEAKER_00:
scrap metal. So I told the bank, I was like, hey, it's totaled. There's no car. And they're like, okay, well, there's one of two ways we can do this. You can either pay us the$18,000, keep making monthly payments on it, or we could do a write-off. And it's going to hit your credit score for seven years. And I was like, well, I'm not going to pay. eighteen thousand dollars for a hunk of metal like that's just not gonna happen so i was like you know what i'm young dumb if there's any time that you're gonna mess up your credit i do it when you're young you know so i was like the next seven years are gonna be hard and so
SPEAKER_01:
so the bank just wrote it off and you no longer had a
SPEAKER_00:
yeah loan with the bank they wrote it off and um it was a write-off it was a debt write-off and yeah So, yeah, that definitely hit the credit hard, and it's a huge write-off,$18,000 write-off.
SPEAKER_01:
Did you ever see your credit report after that?
SPEAKER_00:
I checked it a couple months, and, yeah, it went down about 100 points pretty quick. Did
SPEAKER_01:
it say– I mean, what did it say,
SPEAKER_00:
write-off? Yeah, it says– Bad, I could actually tell you right now. Like
SPEAKER_01:
bad debt or something?
SPEAKER_00:
Bad debt, write-off, I believe, is what it goes down as. Okay. And, you know, seven years from, they wrote it off in 2015, so I'm coming up on that threshold where it'll fall off. I mean, but it's still, I mean, I can't get approved for credit cards or anything like that. Yeah. I've never had a credit card before, but now that they see there's an$18,000 write-off, no credit card company is going to want to take that on. They're not going to care. I haven't been able to get a credit card, which would be nice, but at the same time, maybe it's best I don't have one.
SPEAKER_01:
After that, then I guess you just started... Sucking money away and laying low, and you said you were in the service, so you had all that paid for, so you didn't have to pay rent and all that good stuff.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, luckily I didn't have rent or anything because I was staying in the barracks, which I was really thankful for. Because I, I mean, I don't know how anyone, you know, most people are, the average person lives just barely above paycheck to paycheck. So it's like, if you would have thrown that extra expense on, I mean, I don't, I mean, that could easily destroy a household. Like if you had kids or, you know, daycare or anything like that. I mean, I don't know how anyone would afford it.
SPEAKER_01:
How, I mean, you told everybody, I guess, you know, you're, your buddies that this happened to you I'm sure everybody knew about it
SPEAKER_00:
yeah yeah I mean I've been very open about it and I mean I'm not good I'm not one to run or hide from my past I mean it's helped it is what it is it is what it is exactly I mean there's no there's no point in hiding it like
SPEAKER_01:
do you think that um well I guess what I'm asking is how common do you think I mean, when you went back and you told people, I'm sure you weren't the only one that's ever had this happen to them.
SPEAKER_00:
Oh, no, no. I mean, there's tons, like, it's not something everyone just is like, oh, yeah, I have a DWI, but once you say you have one, they're like, oh, yeah, my dad has, like, two of them, or, oh, yeah, I know tons of people with them, and it's like, wow, it... Very common. It's very common. You don't realize how common it is until you get one, and then you're in a courtroom with 100 other people. They're all getting charged with the same thing, you know, and it's like, it's one of those things. I mean, it's not something to be proud of or anything. No. Everyone that... everyone gets one. It's one of those things. I mean, everyone drinks and drives. It's just a matter of who gets caught, you know?
SPEAKER_01:
And the silver lining to this is you weren't injured and you didn't injure anyone else. Yeah. The worst case scenario, you injured your credit and you had to come out of pocket with a lot of money.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. Yeah. And luckily, you know, the credit score can be repaired with time. It's, but it's, I mean, it takes seven years to repair it. Right. And, uh, but yeah, I'm okay. And, No one else was involved. They were just the biggest thing. Um, but yeah, having that money up front was definitely, it hurt. I mean, I didn't really financially ever recover from it. I mean, cause literally every paycheck I was making was either going to a lawyer or to the courts or to a class or to something. And so, I mean, I never really saw a paycheck for a couple of years, you know, it was all, and I mean, I'd had to ask some family members for some money to help pay for the, the lawyer up front. And, So then I had to pay them back. And then my second one was probably, it cost double the amount at least. Similar situation, had way too much to drink, and I was driving home and ran off the road and flipped my car. That one I shattered my spine on, and I was in the hospital for a month and a half. And luckily, I had health insurance at the time. The car was fully insured. I learned my lesson on that one. But it was an older car, so they just totaled it out. And pretty much what they would have paid me just paid for the tow fee, which was really expensive. So that was pretty much a wash. And then the lawyer was$10,000. And I had to do 80 hours of community service. I had at least six classes I had to take. One was because it was a second DWI. So they're like, okay, this is a repeat problem. So I had to go through like a rehab, if you will. And then they just kept class after class after class. So when you got the second one, did you use the same attorney? No, I used a different one because it was in a different county. So my first one, he didn't do practice law in the county that my second one was in, so I wasn't able to retain him. But I asked him who would he recommend, and he's like, this lawyer's a really good lawyer. And being that it was a second DW The price just went up automatically.
SPEAKER_01:
Get prepared.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, and there was no fighting it. With DWIs, all you can really do is take a plea deal and hope for the best because... The evidence is there. I mean, your BAC is there. There's no... And
SPEAKER_01:
do they give any leeway of consideration to the fact that you were injured and you didn't injure anyone?
SPEAKER_00:
Not really. You know, they were like, we're glad you're okay, but at the end of the day, the law is the law and you broke it. Okay. And at the time, I was making... just above a little bit above minimum wage. And I mean, they didn't, they weren't light on the fees at all that they didn't care. And judge
SPEAKER_01:
just said, pay.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. I actually was denied a court appointed lawyer. Cause at first I was like, I need a lawyer out for now. I'll take a court appointed until I can find, retain a different one. Um, and I was actually denied a court appointed lawyer because I made too much. And at the time I was only making like barely$13 an hour. So, That was too much. Yeah, that was too much. Wow. And I kind of tried to play the system and be like, well, because at the time I was living with my mom and I wasn't paying her rent or anything. And so I was like, well, I pay my mom$800 a month in rent and I pay all this other stuff. And they're like, no, you make too much. They didn't
SPEAKER_01:
care.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, so I was like... That's kind of crazy that even at that little of money, you can still be denied a court-appointed lawyer, which then you have to go out and find your own lawyer unless you want to self-represent, which is not ideal at all. And I got the lawyer, and I just started... taking classes because I already knew I mean even though I wasn't found guilty yet I was like I'm going to start taking these classes because they're going to be mandated regardless and if I take these classes at least I'll show the judge that I'm trying that I'm putting forth effort. And how much time between the first one and the second one? The first one I was charged in February of 2016 and then the second one was it happened February 23rd of 2019 And it actually took them. I was going in and out of court every month for a year, a little over a year. Cause I wasn't charged until March of 2020. So there was about a four year difference between the two.
SPEAKER_01:
So did you like have all your first one wrapped up before the second one started?
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, I had actually, I got it all taken care of, got my license back and I had to pay the reinstatement fees and all that. And, um, I had everything back in line, and it was behind me. I was moving forward, and then, yeah, the second one happened, and this process restarted. And still, you know, that was March of 2020, and I'm still trying to get back on my feet, if you will. I'm just socking money away right now. I
SPEAKER_01:
mean, are you like 50% way through it or are you more than that?
SPEAKER_00:
Luckily, on this one, I am all over it. It's just waiting to get off of probation now, which is in March of next year. I've paid everything off, which the only way I was able to do that was because I am living with my parents and I haven't been paying rent or anything. So my checks have been just going straight to lawyers, court fees, restitution, any legal stuff. And I have all that behind me now. It's just a matter of getting off of probation but let's see I walked out of court I owed$15,000 in restitution and probation the lawyer was$10,000 Uber and I was we went to court for a year every month and to Uber from my house to the court was$50 one way so it was$100 every time I went to court is what it cost me Once a month. And then I got put onto a breathalyzer and that was$400 a month. What does that mean? So it's like a portable breathalyzer. You'd carry it around and blow into it every like four hours and make sure you're not drinking. Yeah, exactly. And it takes a photo of you and everything.
SPEAKER_02:
Oh, wow.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. It has your location and that was$400 a month. Wow. I had that for a year and a half. What other fees? I mean, there was probably five or six classes, each one of them. All of them were at least$100 each. And then, whatever, I mean, there was, of course, I was in the hospital. I had health insurance, but, I mean, that was still, I had to pay the deductible there, which was$1,500. That medical bill, if I didn't have insurance, was like$1.3 million. So, yeah, luckily I had health insurance.
SPEAKER_01:
And in this, so the first one, you just kind of got banged up.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, yeah, there was no injuries. It was just a head injury, but a bad headache pretty much is all it was.
SPEAKER_01:
Did your car flip or who knows what?
SPEAKER_00:
Uh, on the first one, it just ripped the roof right off. I pretty much went up underneath this semi. Oh yeah. And yeah, it was, it was really bad. Um, the second one completely smashed the car to pieces. I mean, the front end was, the motor was pushed all the way in and roof was smashed down. Um, But I had shattered my L3 vertebrae, and I had to get three rods and 12 pins put in. And yeah, that came out to like$1.3 million in total, that hospital visit. Wasn't cheap at all. And then... Then I had that portable breathalyzer, and that was, I mean, I don't know how anyone, an average person could afford a DWI. Like, I really don't, because if I wasn't living with parents, I mean, it would have been pretty much, do I want to pay rent this month, or do I want to pay my legal fees?
SPEAKER_01:
Well, what if you can't afford it? I mean...
SPEAKER_00:
then go sit in jail oh really yeah that's your only option go sit in jail for like a year
SPEAKER_01:
do they ask you can you pay this or
SPEAKER_00:
they don't really ask you that because but i know that's the only alternative is you either pay or go to jail it's you got to pay for your freedom almost which is and they don't care if you're just barely making it they they that's not their problem so i mean it's kind of a endless cycle i could see you know if you can't afford it and you're just trying to make make ends meet and they're throwing all these fees and fines at you i mean i don't know how anyone could afford it i really don't
SPEAKER_01:
well i wonder if someone just said i'm gonna do the jail time i i just can't afford it
SPEAKER_00:
oh there are plenty of people but then you know you lose Right. Right. Right. Five days was more than enough for me. I definitely do not want to go back.
SPEAKER_01:
You had to do five days?
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, I did have to do five days when they found me guilty. And I just went and turned myself in again and did the same thing, you know, showed up, did my time. Because on a second one, you have to do time. I mean, the minimum is five days. And so that's what I did. You
SPEAKER_01:
didn't lose your job or anything over
SPEAKER_00:
this, did you? No, luckily I didn't. My employer was very understanding of the situation and did keep me on board, but I do know of employers that would not have done the same. And, uh, I mean, I've had friends and family members who've had coworkers that they lost their, you know, they got their DWI and they told their boss about it. Cause I mean, it's something, I mean, you're not, you can't hide it. They're going to know, you know, like when you're always having to take days off and stuff. I mean, I missed a lot of work too, which you have to count that in how much time. I mean, every day I went to court, I was
SPEAKER_01:
getting paid for that.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. And I'm not getting paid for it. And You know, that's a full day missed, which, you know, that's easily$100 a day pretty much, and I had to spend$100 to get to court, so that's$200 I'm out.
SPEAKER_02:
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00:
And, yeah, it's not cheap, to say the least, and, you know, it doesn't... The money, I mean, you can't really put a price on freedom, I'll say that. Being in jail is not fun, but, I mean, I don't know what's worse, not having any money or being in jail, because... That money is... It adds up, and I mean, if I wasn't living with my parents right now, it would either be pay my legal fees or pay rent. I mean, that's where I would be at. You make just enough to live, you know, and so if you have to spend more than that, you get a, I don't know, I mean, you'd have to pick up a second job or what, but I don't know how people afford it without moving in with family members or you're going to have to do something to offset that massive amount of money you owe And, I mean, you could put it on credit cards and stuff, but... Not a good idea. Not a good idea. The interest rate, I mean, you're going to be paying into interest for the rest of your life, so...
SPEAKER_01:
And is there a set time frame to do all this?
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, so you basically have the time of your probation. So you have to have everything paid off 90 days before you get off of probation. So I got a two-year probation, so you have two years, basically, to come up with the extra$12,000, which... I mean, I don't know how many people save up basically six grand a year. You'd have to be able to save, which I know a lot of people don't. I mean, it's hard to do to save up$6,000 unless you're really committed to it. I
SPEAKER_01:
mean, you foregoed everything, clothing and movies and everything. You know, dinners and...
SPEAKER_00:
Any extra spending is out of the window. I mean, it's pretty much work, pay rent, pay your bills, and in those bills is included the legal stuff.
SPEAKER_01:
And how was your dating life at that time?
SPEAKER_00:
There wasn't one at all because you couldn't afford it. I mean, your license is suspended, so before you even get to dinner, you've spent$30 on an Uber ride, and then you get to dinner, you spend another$50 to$100, and then another$30 to get home. So you're out$200 just on a date. And you can't afford
SPEAKER_01:
it.
SPEAKER_00:
No, because all your money is literally going to legal stuff. I mean, there is no saving money. Like, going out to dinner is like the McDonald's dollar menu that is going out. And that's with no kids, no girlfriend, nothing. And that's not having a car, no insurance. Like, you're literally throwing away$500,$600 a month easily just at legal stuff.
SPEAKER_01:
So... Light at the end of the tunnel.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, I mean, you just got to, I mean...
SPEAKER_01:
Persevere.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, just push through. I mean, the end does come. There are times where it's going to seem like it's endless, like you're just throwing money away. Just, oh my gosh, this is never going to end. Every month, just throwing money away. But, I mean, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The legal battle will come to an end. The money will, eventually, you will have paid everything off. And then... Then you can hit the restart button and, you know, just focus on your future. Just keep focusing on bettering yourself and, you know, it will pass and you'll look back and go, wow, I could have done so much more with all that money that I just spent. And, you know. Just go, okay, well, if I was able to spend all that money and get through that, I can easily, that money that I was spending each month, let me go ahead and start saving that now. And you can put that towards whatever your future want, whatever you want in your future house or whatever, invest it. Because if you're able to spend an extra$600 a month on legal fees, once your legal stuff is over, keep putting that$600 aside and you can easily invest that into something better and you know, make a better life for yourself.
SPEAKER_01:
So would you say in that sense, uh, there was a silver lining and, and that you, that helped you kind of learn a financial lesson
SPEAKER_00:
of sorts? Definitely. So, I mean, You can, it definitely taught you. I mean, if you weren't good with finances before, you should be able to go through the legal stuff and definitely learn how to be good with finances. Cause these aren't like, it's not like you can't pay it. I mean, once you say I'm going to pay it, like they're expecting you to pay it. So, you know, it's, if you can manage to spend that, spend that, that amount of money. And then once you don't have to spend that amount of money, just mentally tell yourself that you have to, and then you can easily, I mean, if you're spending four to$600 extra a month and on legal stuff afterwards, just keep saving that money and put it aside or invest it, do whatever you want to do with it. And yeah, you could definitely, I mean, it definitely taught me financial responsibility that, um, That's one of the many things I'm thankful for. I mean, it sounds crazy to say you're thankful for DWI, but it really did teach me a lot. It's some less, I mean, obviously I wish I didn't have to go spend$20,000 to learn how to save$20,000, but it definitely was a good lesson that I am thankful for. Now I wish many people don't have to go through that to learn, but just stay focused and push through it, and it does come to an end. I mean, And society, I mean, isn't going to look down on you for having a DWI. There are tons of people that have them.
SPEAKER_01:
And it's not a felony, right?
SPEAKER_00:
No, no. So the first two aren't felonies, but the third one, if I were to get a third one, which will never happen, but the third one you would be charged with as a felon. I see.
SPEAKER_01:
And then I'm sure it gets a lot worse.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, if you have a third one, the fee is pretty much like quadruple.
UNKNOWN:
Wow.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, it is not cheap at all. It's one of those things. If you can avoid, just pay the$30 Uber fee that night and save yourself.
SPEAKER_01:
Well, yeah. I mean, like, when you're friends and you obviously know this side of it, they don't know that side of it because they haven't experienced that side of it. I mean, do you kind of say, hey, man... Take the Uber.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I definitely, I mean, I've told all my friends and family members, if you ever, ever find yourself in a situation, like call somebody, call an Uber, do not drive because you're going to spend$20,000 plus. And
SPEAKER_01:
you walked away from both of these unbelievably. Yeah. I just... That second one sounds horrendous.
SPEAKER_00:
Oh, yeah, it was really, really bad. I mean, I was paralyzed at first from the collarbone down, and the surgeon said he's going to do the surgery, and he's like, I can't promise you anything. He's like, I'm doing this so your back isn't a limp noodle, basically. And, I mean, the day after surgery, they had me up and walking, and, I mean, I just kept pushing. I was like, I'm not going to stop here. Like, yeah, I know I have a bunch of legal stuff ahead of me, but... I mean, I'll get through the legal stuff.
SPEAKER_01:
And looking at you today, I mean, you look great. I would not know any of that happened to you. Yeah. I mean, you're a gym rat. You go and bust out there.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, I'm in better shape now than I probably have been my entire life, including when I was in the military. Yeah. And working out really helps me like stay active and feel good about myself. And I don't know, it's helped me kind of like stay sober. It's just one of those things that keeps my mind busy and gives me something to work towards. And it's a lot cheaper than drinking. And
SPEAKER_01:
I've seen some of your social media. It's kind of funny. Yeah, yeah. You're pretty good at that too. I like that.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, definitely. You know, I tell everybody, if you're going to drink and all that, that's fine, but just be responsible and just know how much it could cost you if you aren't responsible. That's
SPEAKER_01:
such great advice.
SPEAKER_00:
Unless you've got an extra$20,000 to$30,000 laying around, don't drive. Also, it's not even a matter of the money. It's the innocent lives you put at risk. Luckily for me, I wasn't injured or injure anyone else. You can't put the cost. There's no amount of money that can bring someone's kid back. I don't even want to think about that.
SPEAKER_01:
Brock, I really appreciate you taking the time to share that. I know it's very personal and I'm sure you don't want to relive it, you know, having to tell this tale again and again and again. No,
SPEAKER_00:
but I mean, I've always, I guess my great, like one thing I've always wanted to do in my life is just impact and change someone else's. So if I could stop one person from drinking and driving and possibly hurting themselves or someone else, then great, you know, and it's, that's my biggest thing is like, I want to influence others not to, not to drink and drive or, you know, don't drive reckless because there's, thousands, there's millions of innocent lives on the road, and all it takes is one too many drinks, and you're taking that life, you know, and I don't care how rich you are, there's no way you can afford to just... shell out$20,000 to$30,000, not to mention it goes on your record. Future employers see that. There are a lot of jobs that won't hire you if you've had a DWI within the last three years because they can't put you on their vehicle insurance policy. State jobs and city jobs where you have to drive a company vehicle, they're out of the question.
SPEAKER_01:
Will you get behind the wheel again at some point?
SPEAKER_00:
Come March is when I'm off of probation. I could be driving right now, but that be another fee that I'm not, I don't want to pay, which is to have an interlock on my car, which is$400 a month. Um, and that's just more money that I, on top of car insurance and all that, that I'm, I'm just, I've been this long without a vehicle. I'll go a couple more months and I'll be, then I can definitely drive without having to spend more and more money to the state or,
SPEAKER_01:
but you have a bad-ass bike.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah. Yeah. I've got a e-bike and that's about all I can afford right now. It's
SPEAKER_01:
cool.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, luckily, I highly recommend getting an e-bike. It'll do, like, 25 miles an hour without me pedaling. So that's how I've been getting around for, like, the last year and a half now.
SPEAKER_01:
And you've had a couple close calls on that thing.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, yeah, I've been hit on that too. Unreal. In the crosswalks, actually. Unreal,
SPEAKER_01:
unreal. Another story for another day.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, it's quite crazy,
SPEAKER_01:
but... Well, we're glad that, again, you were able to share that story. I think it's very impactful. And I think a lot of lessons learned to a lot of people who hear this probably... will learn the lesson that you learned without having to go through it themselves
SPEAKER_00:
yeah that's that's what i would love is just for people to learn the lesson but not have to pay nearly what i did you know and if they could listen to this and go wow like because i i mean i almost lost my life i was paralyzed and now i'm walking and totally fine but you know there are tons of people that aren't that lucky you know that that aren't that so yeah if you are listening to this and you can not have to spend, in total, I've spent over$60,000 in legal stuff. I mean, if you can hear this and just decide to take that$30 Uber, it'll save you.
SPEAKER_01:
Thousands. Thousands.
SPEAKER_00:
And a lifetime of, you know... Regret. Regret. Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:
Well, like I said, to me, you're very positive. You know, I don't know your emotional state through all this, but I can imagine it was difficult.
SPEAKER_00:
Yeah, there were times where it was definitely difficult, where it's like, what's the point of battling this? I mean, like, what's the point of pushing? You know, it just seems like an endless uphill battle. But, I mean, just stay positive. That's all you can do. I mean... Great advice. Tomorrow's a new day, so there's no point in pushing. Just push through it. You'll get through it. I mean, it seems endless, but I promise there is an end. I mean, they can only put you on probation for so long.
SPEAKER_01:
Yeah, it'll come to an end. I
SPEAKER_00:
mean, you keep throwing... you know, if you are in the legal battle or in the legal system right now, you know, keep throwing the money at it, keep paying them. I mean, it will come to an end. I mean, eventually that, that total debt will go, will be a zero amount. And after it's gone, just keep saying the money you were throwing at it, save it. And you can do a lot more with it.
SPEAKER_01:
Well, terrific. Well, I think we're about at the end of this episode. I really appreciate everybody hanging in, listening to this and, you know, If you have any questions, please send them to our email. Go to our website, pinkmoneyonline.com as well. So everybody out there, have a great day and take care of yourselves. Don't drink and drive.
