A person under the age of twenty-one can be charged with an underage DWI offense of operating a vehicle after consuming alcohol. In underage DWI cases, the prosecution need only prove that the underage driver’s blood alcohol concentration was between .01% and .08%. Although the penalties for an underage DWI are not as severe as with a regular DWI charge, a convicted underage driver will have to perform community service, pay fines and costs, attend the Intoxicated Driver Resource Center, and serve a license suspension for a maximum of 90 days.
Even though the blood alcohol concentration that the prosecution has to prove for an underage DWI charge is much lower than for a regular DWI charge, these cases can be fought and won.
