You see them patrolling the streets, and you'll see more of them in these days before the New Year.

Patrol officers, including DPS troopers, will be watching for people driving under the influence.

You may not know this, but you can get a DWI, even if your blood alcohol is below the .08 threshold.

“Impairment is in different facets. Alcohol drinking, prescription drugs, as well as your dangerous drugs,” said DPS trooper John Sampa.

So, the word intoxicated means more than you might think. The DPS tells us if an officer believes you can't drive in altered state you could be arrested, even if there is no test showing you are intoxicated.

Get a DWI in the Houston area, and you're going to wind up at the Harris County Criminal Courthouse. Plus, you'll dig deep into your pockets.

State troopers estimate a DWI can cost you anywhere from $4,000 and $15,000 in court and attorney's fees.

Now that may be good business for defense attorneys, but many of them believe drivers should not be arrested in the first place, just because an officer “suspects” a person is under the influence.

“Is it fair? No, I don't believe it's fair,” said defense attorney Arnold Lopez.

Lopez said it is hard to convict someone for driving drunk based on nothing more than an officer's observation.

“It is definitely hard for a prosecutor to prove (his/her) case when a defendant provides a breath sample that's below .08,” said Lopez.

The DPS said hundreds of drivers are arrested each year, even if they're not legally drunk. And they expect to arrest more this holiday season.

Defense attorneys tell us they are seeing more and more cases where there is no hard evidence someone is legally intoxicated.