Kids and Maryland Underage DUI Laws

“Kids will be kids,” we all say. We even remember those teenage years where we experienced our first freedoms… like driving a car. But, kids ARE kids, and they make bad choices, especially when they’re already making bad choices like drinking. It is a fact that even if a teenager isn’t old enough to purchase alcohol, they should not be drinking, and they should really not be driving. Unfortunately, kids will be kids… and when they drink and drive, it is a tragedy waiting to happen.

Maryland’s underage DUI laws follow the national “zero tolerance” policy toward underage drinking. That is, if you are under the age of 21 and are tested with a .02 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) or higher, you will face the consequences for DUI in Maryland.  That means you will be treated just like a DUI offender over the age of 21, with the same rough road ahead to getting your life back… before it even really started.

A DUI in Maryland requires that you, as a minor, will be required (if you are eligible) to install an ignition interlock device. You will have the  same fines and court costs as everyone else, and you will be treated as an adult who was drinking and driving. Underage DUI in Maryland isn’t excused by your age or for any other reasons. You tried to get away with a crime, and now you’re stuck with some interlock time.

Fortunately, an underage DUI in Maryland leaves plenty of time for a teenager or young adult to get back on the right road, as long as the lessons are learned from the entire experience. Kids aren’t supposed to drink, and even if there is a sense of freedom in driving, once alcohol is added behind the wheel, the danger is too much to pass off as just “kids’ stuff.”