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Minor DUIs: DUI Under 21

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You can get a driver’s license in Florida when you are sixteen years old. You can vote in Florida when you are eighteen years old. But you can’t have a beer in Florida or drink any other alcoholic beverage until you are twenty-one years old.

In other words, if you have yet to reach your 21^st birthday, Florida law prohibits you from consuming a single drink of alcohol, even a very small drink. Because Florida law generally considers minors less responsible than adults, in some ways, the laws regulating the conduct of minors are less restrictive than laws that apply to adults.

But in other ways, the laws are more stringent.

For example, while an adult driver found to have a blood-alcohol level of .08 is subject to prosecution for driving under the influence, a minor driver found to have a blood-alcohol level of only .02 is subject to prosecution for the same offense. The adult driver will be prosecuted criminally, but the minor driver will be prosecuted administratively (non-criminally).

Nevertheless, as a result, consuming even a single shot of whiskey, a half-glass of wine, or two-thirds of a can of beer, may lead to the punishment of a minor driver. In contrast, an adult driver who consumes the same small drink will not be similarly prosecuted.

Penalties for a Minor DUI Conviction

If a minor driver is convicted of driving under the influence with a blood-alcohol level of .02 to .08, the driver is not subject to incarceration. But his or her driver’s license will be immediately suspended for six months.

If a minor driver is convicted a second time for DUI with a blood-alcohol level of .02 to .08, the driver is still not subject to incarceration. But his or her driver’s license will be immediately suspended for a full year.

If the minor’s blood-alcohol content was found to be between .05 and just under .08, then Florida law requires the minor to submit to an evaluation to determine whether he or she abuses alcohol or some other intoxicant (marijuana, for example).

If this substance-abuse evaluation results are unfavorable, and usually they are, the minor must complete the prescribed treatment or counseling before his or her driver’s license can be reinstated.

Moreover, the privacy of minors under the age of 19 is compromised; information about, and the results of, counseling must be communicated to the minor’s parents.

Criminal Liability of Underage Drivers Prosecuted For a Minor DUI Charge

If a minor driver is stopped by police and found to have a blood-alcohol level of .08 or higher, the minor will be criminally charged in the same way as an adult driver. A conviction carries severe penalties, including incarceration in the local county jail, fines, and other onerous restrictions on the minor’s freedom. Visit my DUI penalties section for more information.

Ways of Winning DUI Under 21 Charge

Sometimes an underage driver is guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, but sometimes he or she is not guilty. And in other cases, even if the minor is guilty of driving under the influence, he or she is entitled to have his case dismissed.

A good DUI attorney knows that the ability to win such cases, regardless of the blood-alcohol content attributed to the driver, depends on a thorough investigation of the relevant facts and circumstances, and thorough research of the corresponding law.

So even if an underage driver did, in fact, have an unlawful amount of alcohol in his system at the time he or she was stopped by police, the prosecution might be defeated, as often it is, if the facts show such things as:

• police did not have justified grounds to stop the minor for driving under the influence; or
• police failed to follow the strict laws imposed on officers when testing a driver’s breath for alcohol content; or
• that police did not fairly conduct the roadside exercises.

Other defenses also exist, depending on the specific facts and circumstances of the incident.

You need a DUI attorney who knows how to handle Minor DUIs. Experience matters.

With more than twenty years of experience defending DUI cases in Palm Beach County, Martin County, and Broward County, Attorney Joshua LeRoy invites you to call him to discuss the facts and circumstances of your case.

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West Palm Beach DUI Attorney Joshua LeRoy, Esq. is dedicated to providing his clients with personalized, honest, and aggressive representation in any areas of criminal law in West Palm Beach, Boca Raton, Boynton Beach, Lake Worth, Delray Beach, Jupiter & the surrounding areas of Palm Beach County in the State of Florida.