If you have been charged with a DUI, you may be subjected to enhanced penalties if your blood alcohol content was way above the legal limit. You’ll need a top-quality San Bernardino DUI lawyer on your side to fight these increased penalties.
Under California law, it is a crime to drive with a blood alcohol content (BAC) of over .08 percent. If you’re charged with a DUI as a first-time offender, you will face fairly serious consequences: probation, fines, administrative license suspension and three months of alcohol classes. These penalties can have a big impact on your life, making it difficult for you to work, go to school or take care of your kids. But if your BAC is extremely high when you are arrested, you may be facing even more serious consequences.
How High Is Too High?
As we’ve discussed before, it can be hard to know exactly how many drinks will put you over the legal limit to drive. Depending on various factors, like your gender, weight and body composition, a few drinks may not affect your ability to drive — or it may cause you to barely be able to walk, let alone drive! When it comes to enhanced penalties for DUI offenses, however, the line is a lot harder to cross. These additional penalties typically are only assessed if your BAC was very high — 0.14 or higher. At this level of intoxication, there can be no reasonable argument that it was safe to drive. If you do drive when you are extremely intoxicated, the court or prosecutor may seek these additional penalties because of the high level of danger of someone driving when they are that drunk.
Enhanced Penalties
If a chemical test shows an extremely high BAC, you may be subject to additional penalties. This could include:
- Longer DUI Programs: first-time offenders with a BAC in a lower range are sentenced to three months of alcohol classes. For elevated BAC levels, you may be sentenced to six or nine months of classes to educate you about the dangers of drinking and driving and the impact of alcohol on your life.
- Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) Meetings: A court may order you to attend AA meetings if your BAC is particularly high when arrested. The court usually orders you to attend at least ten meetings.
- Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Victim Impact Panel: If you’re caught driving with a very high level of intoxication, the court may sentence you to attend a one day presentation with speakers who talk about how their lives have been negatively impacted by drunk drivers (often people who have been the victims of drunk drivers, either because they have been in accidents with drunk drivers or someone they love has been killed by a drunk driver).
- Hospital and Morgue Program: The court may choose to order you to attend a hospital and morgue program, which is exactly what it sounds like — you must go to a hospital and a morgue and learn about the dangers of drunk driving. You then must write an essay about what you have learned from the experience.
- Jail Time: While rare, it is possible that a court will order you to a sentence of imprisonment if you have been caught driving with an extremely high BAC.
The penalties for driving with a very high level of intoxication can be severe, even for first-time DUI offenders. If you have been arrested for a DUI with an elevated BAC, you will need a seasoned San Bernardino DUI lawyer to reduce the risk of going to jail or having other severe penalties levied on you. Contact the Chambers Law Firm today at 714-760-4088 or dchambers@clfca.com for a free insulation consultation on your San Bernardino DUI case!
