It is very common for a driver to be subject to a ticket for all sorts of traffic violations. This could be something minor like failing to indicate a turn or going over the speed limit by a couple of miles. But certain other offenses can be serious enough to threaten the lives of you and the drivers and pedestrians around you. This is why the penalties for these kinds of offenses can be quite serious.
One such serious offense is “impaired driving,” in which the driver is under the influence of alcohol or drugs. In the state of Georgia, highway safety officials treat this extremely seriously, even if it is your first offense. If it is your first offense of impaired driving in Georgia, you might receive a sentence of up to one year in jail. This might also include a fine between $300 and $1000, and a suspended driver’s license for up to one year.
There are also laws in place that punish a person for actions relating to impaired driving. This includes the open container law, which means that it is not permissible for any open alcoholic beverage to be present in a car, even if the driver is not consuming it. A similar law is the prohibition of aggressive driving, that is, driving with the intention to annoy or provoke another driver.
Georgia driving laws are very dependent on the particular situation, and can be applied differently depending on the circumstance. It is important to do thorough research if you are being charged with such a crime.
Source: GA highway safety, “GA highway safety impaired driver laws,” accessed Oct. 19, 2017