Under Age 21 DUIs and CDL Driver DUIs
If you are under 21 or operating a commercial vehicle, then the officer will read you a different version of the Georgia Implied Consent Notice with a lower threshold BAC. For CDL drivers, the limit is 0.04. For under 21 drivers, the limit is 0.02. While the BAC limit is lower, the standard for what constitutes a less safe driver remains the same. The same arguments that we use to discredit the blood tests or breath tests also apply here. Still, you hope there are no chemical tests to establish your BAC in either scenario because the legal limit is so low and a drink or two will certainly put you over the limit.
Under 21 DUI drivers and CDL holders face stiffer license penalties than other DUI offenders. If you are under 21 with no prior license suspensions, there are different possible suspensions depending on the facts of your case. If your BAC was between 0.02 and 0.08, there was no test or the test results were suppressed, then you face a six-month license suspension with no limited permit available. If your BAC was greater than 0.08 or you refused the test, there is a twelve-month license suspension with no limited permit available.
If you get a DUI while operating a commercial vehicle, your CDL faces a one-year disqualification meaning you lose all commercial driving privileges for one year. Your driver’s license which controls your non-commercial driving privileges faces the same suspension as non-CDL drivers. CDL driving privileges are also implicated when a CDL driver receives a DUI in a non-commercial vehicle. The difference would be that the standard 0.08 BAC limit would apply. A second DUI would be a lifetime disqualification of your CDL. The other consideration you must make for a CDL driver is that even if the case is reduced to reckless driving, that is still considered a serious traffic violation. A first serious traffic violation results in no disqualification. However, a second serious traffic violation within a three-year period based on the violation dates will trigger a 60-day CDL disqualification.
For more information on DUI Defense for CDL Drivers and Under 21 Drivers in Georgia, call or text (470) 728-1725 to speak with attorney Carl Chapman.