My Teen Was Charged with a DUI. What Can I Do?
When you discover that your child has been arrested and charged with drunk driving, you may be feeling overwhelmed and helpless. Figuring out how you can help your teen through this difficult time in their lives can be difficult. You may even be under the impression that your legal options are limited.
However, you are your child’s advocate, and by working with an attorney who has experience in handling cases of teens facing DUI charges, you will have done everything in your power to assist them with clearing their name so their lives aren’t permanently impacted by one night of bad judgement.
Continue reading to learn more about the consequences of underaged DUIs, and the ways we may defend your teen in court.
The Penalties of Underaged Drinking and Driving
The penalties your teen will face are quite similar to that of an adult facing a DUI charge. This includes a license suspension, completion of a drug and alcohol rehabilitation course, fines, installation of an ignition interlock device (IID), and the potential for jail time.
As with most cases, the severity of the penalties mentioned will be largely based on your teen’s blood alcohol content levels and whether they were a first-time or repeat DUI offender.
Teens with levels above 0.02 percent but below the legal limit of 0.08 percent may be able to avoid any criminal charges altogether and instead be issued a civil infraction that requires them to pay a fine but avoid the other penalties associated with a DUI.
Apart from the legal consequences your teen could be subjected to, their lives could be impacted by a DUI conviction in other ways. First, car insurance premiums for teens convicted or even charged with a DUI will be sky high. On a first- or second-job salary, this might be a financially impossible situation for your teen.
Their criminal record will also reflect the conviction, which could make it impossible for your teen to obtain federal student loans to go to college or even find a decent job, as their background check will reflect the conviction.
Defending Your Child’s Case
Fortunately, the Indiana court system is not out to conviction kids who make poor decisions. In many cases, it is quite possible to have the charges reduced to a wet reckless, which is essentially a reckless driving charge that involves alcohol. Typically the penalties here are a simple fine and will not require any jail time.
Other times, we can argue that there was a lack of probable cause in pulling over your teen in the first place; or that the chemical tests, such as a breathalyzer, were incorrectly administered and the results are therefore invalid.
The way your teen’s attorney goes about defending your child will depend on the individual details of the case, but you can be sure that we’ll do everything in our power to advocate for your child’s freedom.
Consult a Respected Indiana DUI Lawyer
If you would like to learn more about how you can help your child avoid a DUI conviction, get in touch with a qualified Indiana DUI lawyer at Rowdy G. Williams Law Firm. You can schedule your free defense strategy session by filling out the brief contact form provided at the bottom of this page or by calling our office at 812-232-7400.
