Driving While Intoxicated with Children

When you send a child home the last person you want driving is a drunk. The leading cause of death for children in the United States is car crashes and nearly 25% of these car crashes involved someone under the influence of alcohol.

According to a study by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, an estimated 2.5 million adult drivers with children living in their households reported that they drove recently while under the influence of alcohol. The study examined the national prevalence of alcohol-impaired driving and riding with an alcohol-impaired driver as well as the association of these behaviors to having at least 1 child in the household. The study and many others also contributed to the enactment of several new drunk-driving laws that affect children.

If you are driving while intoxicated with children in the vehicle, in the state of Texas, you can face any combination of fines of up to $10,000, license suspension, 180 days to 2 years in jail and hundreds of hours of community service.

There's also the concern of minors consuming alcohol themselves and attempting to drive. Texas has a zero-tolerance law for minors in possession of alcohol and minors driving under the influence of alcohol. A minor operating a motor vehicle who may be under the influence of even the smallest amount of alcohol in a public place receives a citation for a DUI. This is a Class C Misdemeanor that can result in a fine in the range of thousands of dollars and a mark on your record that lasts for years.