As a person under the age of 21, it is illegal to consume alcohol in Georgia in the majority of circumstances. Therefore, if you are found to be consuming alcohol and you are under the age of 21, you could face certain legal consequences.
It is one thing to be consuming alcohol under the age of 21; however, it is entirely another thing to be operating a vehicle at the same time. If is for this reason that zero tolerance DUI laws are in place for those under the age of 21.
What are the laws for drinking and driving under the age of 21?
When you are over the age of 21, you are only considered to be driving under the influence of alcohol if you have a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or .08 percent or higher.
However, since a person under the age of 21 cannot drink legally under normal circumstances, this limit is lowered to a BAC of .02 percent. The reason why this value is not set to 0 percent is because we naturally have a small amount of alcohol in our blood.
If you are found to be driving under the age of 21 with a BAC of .02 percent or higher, it is likely that you will face a driver’s license suspension for six months when it is your first offense. You will likely also need to pay a fee of $210 and attend a DUI education program.
If you have been convicted of an underage DUI and you need to defend yourself, it is important that you take action immediately.
Source: DMV, “DUI & DWI in Georgia,” accessed March 30, 2018