Opinion ID: 1712936
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Underage Driving under the Influence

Text: In 1994, the Louisiana Legislature amended La.Rev.Stat. 14:98, the general statute on driving while intoxicated, to include a provision setting forth a lower maximum BAC content for minors driving motor vehicles. Specifically, Section 98, as amended, defined the crime of operating a vehicle while intoxicated (DWI) as the operating of any motor vehicle when [t]he operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.10 percent or more by weight, or is 0.04 percent or more by weight if the operator is under the age of eighteen years .... (emphasis added). [3] In 1997, the Legislature repealed the portion of former La.Rev.Stat. 14:98 underscored in the previous paragraph and enacted an entirely separate statute, La. Rev.Stat. 14:98.1, which provides in pertinent part: A. The crime of underage operating a vehicle while intoxicated is the operating of any motor vehicle, aircraft, watercraft, vessel, or other means of conveyance when the operator's blood alcohol concentration is 0.02 percent or more by weight if the operator is under the age of twenty-one based on grams of alcohol per one hundred cubic centimeters of blood. B. Any underage person whose blood alcohol concentration is found to be in violation of R.S. 14:98(A)(1)(b) shall be charged under its provisions rather than under this Section. C. On a first conviction, the offender shall be fined not less than one hundred nor more than two hundred fifty dollars, and participate in a court-approved substance abuse and driver improvement program. D. On a second or subsequent conviction, regardless of whether the second offense occurred before or after the first conviction, the offender shall be fined not less than one hundred fifty dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, and imprisoned for not less than ten days nor more than three months. Imposition or execution of sentence shall not be suspended unless: (1) The offender is placed on probation with a minimum condition that he serve forty-eight hours in jail and participate in a court-approved substance abuse and driver improvement program; or (2) The offender is placed on probation with a minimum condition that he perform ten eight-hour days of court-approved community service activities, at least half of which shall consist of participation in a litter abatement or collection program and participate in a court-approved substance and driver improvement program. [4]