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A new public awareness campaign aims to persuade people not to drink and drive by emphasizing how much it costs.

"DWI. You can't afford it" is the slogan on 16 billboards around Bernalillo County and on eight TV spots.

And for most people, that's probably the case.

The average first-time DWI conviction costs about $2,000 in fees and fines - not to mention the estimated $3,000 to $5,000 in lawyer bills.

"We came up with a message that hasn't been conveyed before," said Bernalillo County spokeswoman Liz Hamm.

"You can't afford it - monetarily, emotionally and all that," she said. "Your insurance rates go up; there's lost wages," she said.

Much of the money that DWI arrestees must pay goes to a device aimed at preventing them from ever driving drunk again: an ignition interlock.

The state in 2005 became the first to mandate that all drivers on a first DWI conviction install an interlock and get an ignition-only license. And the alcohol-detecting devices aren't cheap, either: it costs almost $1,000 to rent the interlocks for a year, and another $45 to get a license that allows convicts to drive only cars with the detectors installed.

Depending on the number of previous DWI convictions, DWI offenders must have the interlocks installed for at least a year. On a fourth conviction, an offender is sentenced to use the interlock for life, although that can be appealed after five years.

The state sets aside some money to help those who can't pay all the fees. Offenders also pay into that fund. A few of the fees are negotiable and can be replaced with additional community service, for example. Some fees pay for crime lab work and anti-DWI programs run by counties across the state.

In addition to criminal costs, offenders' homes, vehicles, savings accounts and credit are vulnerable to civil lawsuits.

Lawyers abound in Albuquerque willing to sue drunk drivers.

Costs recovered in civil lawsuits usually run between $25,000 and $50,000, said lawyer Ron Bell, famous for suing drunk drivers.

That sum is usually recovered through the driver's insurance companies, which promptly drops the client from their insurance only to leave the driver with out-of-this-world insurance premiums.

Drunk drivers without insurance still have to pay - big-time - he said.

So much is sought in compensation and punitive damages that the sued drunk driver usually declares bankruptcy.

"I want the drunk driver to know that all of their physical possessions can be gone, in an instant," Bell said. "They can lose their house; they can lose their cars; they can lose their credit, their credibility over an incident that they'll regret their whole life, not to mention the fact that they really did hurt somebody."

But driving while intoxicated isn't just expensive for those who are arrested.

The county, which spent $100,000 on the campaign, also has to foot the bill to incarcerate drunken drivers.

For the jail and its community custody program, that tab comes to more than $7 million a year, said the county's public safety director, John Dantis. About half of the money goes to housing the offenders, while the rest goes to treatment.

On average, 100 people each day are in the Metropolitan Detention Center on DWI-related charges, Dantis said.

The cost to taxpayers, however, is likely to increase, Dantis predicted, as lawmakers continue to crack down on offenders.

"It's going to go higher, too," he said. "This community has said we want a zero tolerance for people that drink and drive, and as a result of that decision by the community, law enforcement and governments are taking that very seriously."

Although the state in past years has stepped up its efforts against DWI, some drivers still are not heeding the message.

During a statewide Thanksgiving holiday crackdown on drunken driving, State Police arrested 122 people for DWI and attended to eight alcohol-related accidents, which caused one fatality. As of Dec. 5, State Police have conducted 25 saturation patrols and 15 checkpoints.

So far this year, State Police have arrested 3,391 people on DWI charges.

Tribune reporter Maggie Shepard contributed to this report.