If someone got hurt or killed during an underage DUI accident, the experience could also impact the minor responsible for it psychologically, with feelings of guilt and shame lingering for years.
Generally, parents are glad when their teenage kids finally obtain the license to drive.
However, teen drunk driving is still a major issue in the United States. You can’t blame parents if they worry about their children once they start driving, especially when the kids are at an age when they start getting curious about alcohol.
Aside from the risk of getting involved in a drunk driving crash, parents should also be concerned about underage DUI, which brings a host of problems for them and their kids.
More Stringent Underage DUI Laws
The laws for underage DUI that all states are enforcing have gotten strict over the years.
Underage DUI laws, often referred to as zero-tolerance laws, apply to drivers under the age of 21. While adult drivers 21 and up can get arrested for DUI in most states if their blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is at or above 0.08%, an underage driver could get a DUI for a BAC much lower than that.
Some states have a BAC limit of 0.02% for minor drivers, but other states can arrest a teenaged driver for DUI if their BAC is anything higher than 0.00%. In other words, even the smallest amount of alcohol in their bloodstream can already mean DUI arrest and prosecution.
The Cost of Underage DUI
Under normal circumstances, parents would be the ones shouldering the costs of underage DUI.
Some of the litigation expenses parents will likely pay for in an underage DUI case include attorney’s fees, court filing and processing fees, and bail, all of which could run up to thousands of dollars.
And if the court convicts their teenager of underage DUI, they can expect to pay hefty fines.
Possible Underage DUI Penalties
You would think that underage DUI laws would be a lot more lenient, but their penalties can be just as harsh as that of a regular DUI conviction.
Underage DUI penalties may vary from one state to another, but they generally include serving time in jail or a juvenile facility, fines of up to a few thousand dollars, driver’s license suspension, ignition interlock device installation, mandatory alcohol education programs, and community service.
The penalties will likely be more severe if the underage DUI involved injuries or deaths.
Long-term Impact of Underage DUI
A conviction for a DUI goes into a person’s record, and that alone could cause problems for an underage DUI offender.
Some schools expel students with a DUI on their record. Others are likely to reject college applications from an underage DUI offender.
Employers also make background checks and may not want to hire somebody with a DUI on their record.
Car insurance rates of DUI offenders also tend to rise.
If someone got hurt or killed during an underage DUI accident, the experience could also impact the minor responsible for it psychologically, with feelings of guilt and shame lingering for years.
There’s no such thing as an easy way to deal with an underage DUI, but parents can start managing it by getting the services of an experienced DUI attorney from the get-go.
Join the conversation!