Underage Drinking and Driving in Illinois
I came across this information while I was looking for new DUI laws and thought I would pass the information along to everyone.
According to the Illinois.gov statistics, 10% of all licensed drivers are under the age of 21, but, this same 10% are involved in 17% of alcohol-related fatal crashes. Nationally, six people between the ages of 15-20 die in motor vehicle crashes every day. Additionally, about 2 out of every 5 Americans will be involved in an alcohol related crash at some point in their lives. I know I was involved in one when I was 20 years old.
I thought these were staggering statistics that needed to be shared. With more and more teen drivers on the road everyday and with some states trying to raise the age when a teen can apply for a driving permit, the last thing anyone of us wants is for a teen to be drinking and driving and worst case be involved in an alcohol related crash and injure someone.
With that being said I wanted to share the legal consequences of underage drinking and driving in Illinois with you so you could pass this along to a teen driver, if you have one, or if you yourself are a teen driver reading this.
The first under age 21 DUI conviction produces a maximum of a $2500 fine, possible imprisonment of up to a year, and a loss of full driving privileges for a minimum of 2 years.
The second under age 21 DUI conviction leads to a mandatory 48 hours in jail or 10 days of community service, loss of driving privileges for a minimum of 3 years or until the age of 21, whichever is longer, possible jail term of up to a year, and a maximum of a $2500 fine.
A third under age 21 DUI conviction is a class 4 felony and carries some seriously stiff penalties with it. Not only will you loss your driving privileges for 6 years, and possible spend 1 – 3 years in jail, you could receive a maximum fine of $25,000.
There is also a class 4-felony charge following a crash that results in permanent disfigurements or bodily harm. The first time consequences are a fine of up to $10,000, a jail term of 1 – 3 years, and a minimum of a 1-year loss of driving privileges. These penalties could possibly be in addition to a first time underage 21 DUI conviction, for example.
The penalties listed above are for a driver under 21 with a BAC of .08% or greater, a chemical or breath test result from .01% - .08% BAC would be in violation of Illinois’ “Zero Tolerance Law.” The “zero tolerance law” has significantly lower driver license suspension periods than a DUI conviction, but the effect on a teen’s life is just as substantial.
Illinois has an “illegal to posses” and an “underage illegal transportation of an alcoholic beverage” charge that sounds like the two would be the same, but the 2 charges bring significantly different penalties with each conviction.
A charge of “underage Illegal transportation of an alcoholic beverage” carries with it a driver’s license suspension and a maximum fine of $1000 for the first conviction, and a driver’s license revocation for the second conviction. What is unclear is for how long the suspension or revocation period is. This could be left up for the court to decide at a later date. While charging a teen with a “possession of alcoholic beverage” will deliver a maximum fine of $2500, and up to a year in jail.
Some of these convictions are straightforward with their penalties and some like the “illegal to posses” or “underage illegal transportation of an alcoholic beverage” is vague in their listing of the penalties. I would highly suggest talking to an attorney and retaining their services if your teen driver or a teen driver you know has been arrested for any of the crimes. They would be the only resource that could make better sense of these charges and could subsequently lower many if not all of the penalties listed.
