Prince George’s County Underage DUI Lawyer
For individuals under the age of 21 who are pulled over for suspicion of a DUI, it is still charged as DUI but there are additional charges and sanctions that an individual under 21 would face if they were to receive a DUI. To learn about how to defend drunk driving charges for minor, contact a skilled DUI attorney right away. A Prince George’s County DUI lawyer can help give you the peace of mind necessary to seek your desired outcome.
Laws Surrounding BAC in Underage Drivers
The laws surrounding BAC in people under the age of 21 in Prince George’s County are different for those over the age of 21. For a 21-or-over individual, it is the common belief that 0.08 is the legal to limit to drive. Well, that is partially true but, ultimately, that is the threshold most people refer to. If an individual is under 21, they have an alcohol restriction.
Alcohol restriction means an individual’s legal limit is 0.02 because some cold medicines and other substances an individual may take lawfully have alcohol. Someone under 21 would be in violation of an alcohol restriction so there are additional charges they would face, regardless of whether it was 0.04, 0.08, 0.10, 0.20, in addition to DUI charges.
Factors Used to Determine Impairment in an Underage Driver
The factors used to determine impairment in an underage drive are the same factors that are used for adults. Balance, coordination, speech, performance on tests, interactions with the police officers, driving ability, admission of the person having consumed alcohol, finding alcohol in the car, and odor of alcoholic beverages all come into play regardless of under or over 21.
Someone under the age of 21 with a DUI case should expect that many judges will overlook it as a useful indiscretion if it is a first offense and nobody got hurt. They will still take a delicate touch and be more treatment-oriented as opposed to punishment-oriented so long as there are no aggravating factors.
Second-Time Offense DUI Treatment for Underage Drivers
Prosecutors and judges tend to treat cases for an underage DUI if it is a second-time offense very aggressively. A second offense of a person under 21 will almost certainly involve some period of incarceration because if someone is under 21, meaning they are 20 years old. If they have now been convicted twice of a DUI, that is certainly problematic because most people who have experienced it one time never want to go through it again.
If someone committed the same offense in a short time frame they may face aggravated circumstances. The individual could face a violation of probation because they very well may be on probation for the first offense when the second one occurs. A Prince George’s County DUI lawyer could help minors who have been accused multiple times build a defense.
Contacting an Attorney
the most important reasons to work with a Prince George’s County DUI lawyer when facing underage DUI charges is that only an experienced attorney will know the methodologies, strategies and approaches to employ, what to communicate, what effort to take, and what is and what is not effective. That only comes with experience and, having certain experience, you also build connections and relationships. Those things can go a long way in trying to get the appropriate result due to an offense of that nature.