With that said, a relatively recent accident was caused by a 19 year old driver, who was operating the vehicle under the influence of alcohol. The driver was with a 15 year old passenger. Their car run the red light and collided with an SUV. The SUV, in turn, overturned and landed on the hood of another vehicle and there was also a fourth car involved in the accident as well. It all result in five injured individuals, of which two people are in critical condition.
The 19 year old driver was submitted to the BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) test and it showed that he was drunk. As you may know, when it comes to DUI, the state of California is using the Zero Tolerance law and this implies that all drivers who did not reach the age of 21, are not allowed to have any alcohol in their system.
Needless to say, DUI is a very serious offense in all states. Hence, the law enforcement authorities are not very forgiving when it comes to DUI criminals, especially underage ones. In most of the states the law does not allow anyone to drive their vehicles in case their BAC equals or surpasses the .08% threshold. In addition, the BAC for underage drivers is significantly lower than that number – in some states it is illegal to be driving under the influence of any amount of alcohol if you are not yet 21.
Here is some interesting and informative DUI statistics over the recent time:
- Nearly 30% of all underage drivers of ages 15-20, were killed in car accidents and were drinking before getting behind the wheel
- When it comes to the above-mentioned age group, about 24% of DUI drivers in fatal accidents are males, whereas only 12% are females.
- Over 28% of high school students in America admitted during the surveys that they were drinking and driving at least once in their lives.
- Furthermore, a lot of underage drivers are not only drinking while driving – they do not even bother to wear seat-belts. Hence, more than 70% of the drivers from this age group that were involved in fatal DUI accidents were not wearing their seat belts when the collision occurred.
- Over 40% of children drank at least a few sips of alcohol by the 8th grade. 20% of those also admitted that they were drunk at least once.
- More than 70% of high school seniors state that they drank more than a couple of sips by the time they graduated and 5% of those also admitted that they were drunk at least one time.
- Nearly 11 million people in the age group of 15-20 admitted that they were drinking alcohol in the past month. Nearly 20% claimed that they were binge drinking and 6% admitted to being actual alcoholics.
The legal penalties for DUI are quite harsh and you will need to prepare for some genuinely unpleasant consequences indeed. In accordance to your BAC as well as your driving history, you may well be facing:
- A fines or a number of fines – from $100 and more
- Obligatory DUI classes
- 3-5 years of probation for driving under the influence
- Time in county jail
In case you are an underage driver who was driving under the influence, additional laws will apply. In the state of California every single one of those laws will be applied to the case, even if some of those duplicate, so you will be facing the following consequences:
- Vehicle Code 23136 covers drivers under 21 with BAC of 0.01% or more. Although violating that law is not considered a crime, it is still penalized with one year of driver’s license suspension.
- Although it is considered an infraction, it does not involve any jail time. However, it does imply the following penalties:
- Suspending the driver’s license for a year in case it is the first time offense,
- $100 in fines in case it is the first time offense, and
- Obligatory alcohol awareness classes for three or more months in case you are over 18 years of age.
- Vehicle Code 23152 covers driving at any age while:
- influenced by alcohol or drugs,
- having a BAC of 0.08% or more;
- The California law considers it a misdemeanor and the following legal penalties apply:
- Informal probation for 3-5 years,
- Up to $1000 in fines,
- Alcohol or drug awareness classes for 3-9 months,
- Up to six months in jail.
- Vehicle Code 23224 – in case you have not reached 21 you are not allowed to carry alcohol inside a vehicle except in the following cases:
- you are:
- accompanied by parents or any other specified adults, or
- parents or adults told you to get rid of alcohol, or
- it is part of your job to carry alcohol with you and you are working for someone with a certified license.
- Vehicle is going to be impounded up to 30 days,
- $1000 in fines or more,
- Driver’s license suspension for one year or more.
If you were arrested and charged with DUI in Sacramento, call our law offices at (877) 870-4087 or use our online contact form to request free case review.
