Drinking and Driving Under 21
Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227g — two hundredths of one per cent, and looking young is no reason to stop a car
No person under twenty one years of age may operate a motor vehicle with a blood alcohol content of two hundredths of one per cent or more by weight.
Who handles this in Connecticut: legal aid programs and the state offices, listed in the Connecticut directory.
- That a driver appears to be sixteen years of age or over but under twenty one is not a reasonable and articulable suspicion that justifies an investigatory stop.
- Most of the procedure of the adult statute, from the test evidence to the penalties, applies to this offense adapted accordingly.
For the license suspension that follows the arrest, a person under 21 at the time whose test showed an elevated content keeps an ignition interlock for one year after a first suspension, two years after a second, and three years after a third or later.
Sources for this section (2)
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227g — Operation by person under twenty-one years of age while blood alcohol content exceeds two-hundredths of one per cent. Procedures. Penalties
- Conn. Gen. Stat. § 14-227b — Implied consent to test operator's blood, breath or urine and to nontestimonial portion of drug influence evaluation. Testing procedures. License suspension. Hearing
Legal information, not legal advice. Verified as of October 2026. Applying it to a particular situation is the work of a licensed Connecticut attorney.