Legal Penalties For DUIs That Cause Injuries

If you injure other people while driving under the influence of alcohol, you will be charged with DUI causing injuries in line with the Californian Vehicle Code requirements.

If it is established that you were operating your vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, thus being unable to react to various road situations properly, breaking the law and acting in a way that consequently led to a person or a group of people to be injured, you will be charged with DUI causing injuries. If it is proven that you were driving with a BAC above the legal 0.8% limit, you will be charged with Operating Your Vehicle With BAC Above the 0.8% Threshold as well as causing injuries to people around you. On the other hand, though, the prosecution is not required to prove that you were simply driving under the influence of alcohol – instead, they are required to capitalize on the fact that your BAC surpassed the overall legal limits.

The legal penalties for DUI causing injuries depend on a number of different factors. For instance, the legal consequences for every repeated DUI accidents causing injuries crime drastically increase in a short time. Here is a list of examples, which demonstrate just how quickly the punishment for DUI causing injuries may escalate.

If you were convicted for a misdemeanor DUI causing injuries, you may easily expect the following legal consequences:

• Expensive fines. Up to $5000 for a single crime
• Mandatory alcohol awareness program – from 3 to 30 months
• You may even be sentenced to a year in county jail, if the circumstances of the crime warrant it. 5 days to 1 year
• An informal probation may also be obligatory and could last for as long as five years
• Suspension of your driver’s license for up to 3 years
• You will need to restitute for any victims and crimes that you have committed.

Furthermore, if you are convicted for a third-time DUI causing injuries, you will be facing the following legal penalties:

• Expensive fines. Up to $5000 for a single crime
• Mandatory DUI school and it usually lasts from 18 to 30 months
• Sentenced to state prison for a term of up to 4 years
• If a victim suffers from bad injuries, you will have to serve 3 additional years in state prison, which is a huge deal
• You will be given a single strike on your driving record, should any of the victims suffer any significant bodily injuries
• Suspension of your driving privileges for up to 5 years is a common
• You will be granted a new habitual traffic offender status for 4 years