What is “Aggravated DUI with Child in the Car?”

You know that when you drink and drive, you put yourself and other drivers on the road at risk. You just don’t the ability to make good choices or to react quickly, which means that you are more likely to cause a serious accident. Yet the drinking can also be responsible for making the poor choice of getting in the car to drive in the first place.

If you drive with a child in the car, the legal consequences can be even more severe. You are charged with “aggravated DUI with child in the car,” which is a felony and can lead to your immediate arrest. You will face jail time and very serious fines and penalties if you are convicted.

Working with an Avondale DUI lawyer is very important when you are charged with any DUI, but because of the more severe penalties that come with a charge of aggravated DUI with child in the car, getting the right legal help is even more important. Without a good DUI defense, you could have a felony on your record and lose important rights like the ability to vote or own a gun, you could have a hard time getting work, and you could even face the loss of your children from social services.

Increased Fines and Penalties

A charged of aggravated DUI with child in the car is made when the child is under 15 years old. In most cases, you will be arrested on the spot if the officer sees the child in the car and determines that you are under the influence.

Your car will be impounded if you are arrested, and family will be called to pick up your child. If no family can be reached in a timely manner, Child Protective Services will be called to collect your child or take him home. When CPS becomes involved, that can prompt an investigation into your parenting overall. Have you been arrested for DUI in the past? Do you have a history of destructive drinking at home or in front of your children? Is there substance abuse in the home? Depending on what CPS finds, your children could be removed from your home – even those who were not in the car at the time of your arrest.

Other sentencing will depend on whether you have been charged with a DUI before and how high the alcohol content of your blood. You could be sentenced to as little as 10 days in jail, or you could get as much as 45 days. Your fines and other fees could be as little as a couple thousand dollars to more than $7,000.

If you have been convicted of a DUI in the past, you can expect all of those penalties to be increased, including jail time and fines.

Being convicted of aggravated DUI with child in the car will also mean losing your license for a year. Not only will that make it hard for you to keep your job or take care of your child, but it will also cost you a lot of money to get your driving privileges restored. You will have to get an Interlock Ignition Device installed on your car and may need to go through additional driver education. You will also have to carry a more expensive insurance policy for high-risk drivers and will pay more for your regular insurance.

By working with an experienced DUI lawyer, you may be able to avoid conviction or to minimize some of these penalties.

Mounting a Strong DUI Defense

An experienced lawyer who has intricate knowledge of Avondale DUI laws can help you mount a strong defense to protect your rights even for the most serious DUI charges. There are many ways to challenge a DUI charge, and it requires evaluating all of the circumstances that led to your arrest.

Some options for your DUI defense include:

• Casting doubt on the effectiveness of the testing equipment or methods used to determine your level of intoxication
• Showing that there was no just cause for the officer to stop you
• Showing that you were not in actual physical control of the vehicle (such as if you were parked while calling someone to pick you up to drive you home)
• Proving that other mitigating factors were present

Your attorney will review all the details of your case to determine the best DUI defense.

At My AZ Lawyers, we work to help clients avoid a DUI conviction or to reduce the penalties they face and protect their driving privileges. With a charge of aggravated DUI with child in the car, it is even more important to get the best DUI defense possible since the stakes are so high. We comb through every detail of your case to find the legal strategies that will be most effective for your particular circumstances. Contact us in Avondale today to learn more about how a DUI lawyer can help you.