Jacksonville Criminal Lawyer Blog
In Florida, the law establishes what it considers a legal limit for a driver’s blood alcohol content. Most people know that the legal limit in Florida in DUI cases is 0.08. If a person blows a 0.08 or higher on the breathalyzer, that does not necessarily mean he/she will be convicted of DUI, but it is certainly evidence that state can use to try and prove a DUI case in court. How many drinks it takes to get to 0.08 depends on various factors including body weight, metabolism, food intake and other factors.
Most people are also well aware that the drinking age in Florida is 21. The rules in Florida regarding DUI’s are different for a driver under the age of 21. For one example, the legal limit is much lower. In Florida, it is illegal for a person under the age of 21 to drive with a blood alcohol content of 0.02 or higher. It does not take much alcohol to get to a 0.02 blood alcohol content.
Many adults go out to dinner and have a drink or two and drive home assuming they are under the 0.08 legal limit. They certainly may be right. However, for people under 21, that will not help. The legal limit is such that just about any alcohol may subject them to a DUI charge. The idea of course, is that since people under 21 are not legally allowed to drink, they are not given the same leeway when it comes to a DUI charge. For adults over the age of 21, drinking and driving is not illegal as long as the driver is not impaired. For people under 21 years of age, any drinking and driving can easily subject them to a DUI conviction. Since the penalties for DUI convictions get increasingly worse as a person gets more than one, and much more expensive, it is important to avoid DUI’s, particularly for younger drivers.