What If I Got a DUI With My Kids In the Car?
Consuming alcohol or drugs can significantly impair a driver’s ability to safely operate a motor vehicle. It puts the impaired driver and others on the road at risk. Driving under the influence with a child as a passenger is an even more serious offense because it endangers the life and safety of the child. DUI offenses carry serious penalties under any circumstances. With children in the car, criminal penalties are increased.
What Are the Charges for DUI With Children in the Car?
If you are arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs with a child under the age of 16 in the vehicle, you can be charged with both DUI and child abuse. Under Colorado law, a person commits child abuse by causing an injury to a child’s life or health, or by permitting a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation that poses a threat of injury. If the child in the vehicle was not injured, child abuse is charged as a misdemeanor. If the child was injured or killed, it is a felony offense.
What are the Penalties for Driving Under the Influence With a Child in the Vehicle?
Upon conviction of DUI with children in the car, penalties for child abuse are imposed in addition to DUI penalties. Severity of penalties can depend on whether the defendant acted with criminal negligence or with recklessness. The difference is whether he or she was aware of the risks. When a person understands the risks yet ignores them, that person is acting recklessly. If a person who should understand the risks fails to understand them, that person is criminally negligent.
- Penalties for first-offense DUI alone may include jail time of five days to one year, fines of $600 to $1,000, up to two years of probation, and 48 to 96 hours of community service.
- Misdemeanor child abuse (if the child was not injured) carries up to one year in county jail and/or a fine of $1,000.
- When a child in the car is injured during commission of DUI, it is usually charged as a class 3 felony, punishable by two to six years in state prison with mandatory parole for three years and/or a fine of $2,000 to $500,000. If the defendant acted recklessly, penalties can be increased to four to 12 years in prison with mandatory five-year parole and/or a fine of $3,000 to $750,000.
- If a child in the car dies due to criminal negligence, child abuse is charged as a class 3 felony. If the defendant acted recklessly, it is charged as a class 2 felony, punishable by eight to 24 years in state prison with mandatory parole for five years and/or a fine of $5,000 to $100,000.
Allegations of child abuse are reported to the Colorado Department of Health and Human Services (DHS). The department will conduct a separate investigation, which could jeopardize your parental rights.
What Are the Defenses Against Charges of DUI With Children in the Car?
If you are facing both DUI and child abuse charges in Colorado, you need a strong defense to help you avoid the potential consequences. Common defenses include the following:
- There was no probable cause for police to pull you over.
- You were not intoxicated at the time of arrest.
- You showed only objective signs of intoxication.
- The arresting officer performed field sobriety tests incorrectly.
- Your breathalyzer test showed a false positive.
- The passenger in your vehicle was over the age of 16.
- You did not act recklessly; therefore, the charges should be reduced.
- The child in your car did not suffer any injuries.
Contact a Breckenridge DUI defense lawyer at Whitaker & Penix, LLC at (970) 368-0602 for skilled criminal defense against charges of DUI with children in the car.