What are the Consequences of an Underage DUI in Virginia Beach?
Virginia Beach, VA- Teen drivers are notorious for taking risks on the road. Those risks run the gamut from speeding, texting to drinking and driving. In a 2013 Youth Risk Behavior Study, the Centers for Disease Control discovered that 10 percent of teens participating in the study admitted to driving drunk in the past thirty days. That’s a significant number of teens who face could be charged with an underage DUI in Virginia Beach.
Like most states, the legal drinking age in Virginia is 21 years, unless a teen has the permission of a legal guardian and they are consuming the alcohol in a private setting where it is not being sold. Adults are not allowed to serve alcohol to underage guests unless their parents or legal guardians.
Even though teen drivers have the right to consume alcohol in a private setting, it is still illegal for a teen to drive after they’ve consumed alcoholic beverages. A teen driver is considered intoxicated if their blood alcohol concentration is 0.02 percent of more. That is significantly lower than the 0.08 percent legal limit for adults.
If you are convicted of an underage DUI, you can face up to ten days in jail, fines ranging between $250 and $1,000 and a license suspension of up to one year.
A second conviction for an underage DUI in Virginia Beach carries a possible penalty of up ten days of incarceration and fines between $500 and $1,000. A second underage DUI will also result in your driver’s license being suspended for up to three years.
The above penalties can become quite a burden for a teen, but they are just the beginning of the troubles that accompany an underage DUI conviction. Making matters worse is the fact that most teen drivers charged with a DUI also face other charged such as possession of alcohol by a minor, distributing alcohol to a minor and child endangerment.
On top of the additional charges, an underage DUI will have other consequences. For one a conviction for an underage DUI in Virginia will lead to a steep increase in the teen driver’s insurance premiums. Even worse, an underage DUI conviction will stay on a teen’s record for years, negatively impacting their educational opportunities and job prospects.
The penalties associated with an underage DUI will begin to pile up unless you enlist an experienced DUI lawyer in Virginia Beach to work on your defense. With an attorney on your side, you may be able to mitigate the severity of your DUI and have your sentence reduced. Let USAttorneys connect you a defense attorney today, so you can decide the best way to resolve your case. Set up a consultation today and get the necessary advice of a lawyer today.
A DUI lawyer in Virginia can help a teen get a lenient sentence or avoid conviction for an underage DUI.
