Walk It Through: The Graduation Party
Allowed with a parent, $100 to $200 without one, and more than 0.0 at the wheel.
Police find an underage guest with a beer at a graduation party, with the guest's mother standing nearby.
Two things a person in this spot might do. Picking one shows what the law says about it.
One party and the drive home. Employment exceptions, licensed premises, and the ordinary law above 0.08 are not worked through here.
A practice walkthrough, not a prediction of how any real one will go. Legal information, not legal advice.
Words this turns on
Terms with a legal meaning that is narrower than the everyday one. Each links to the definition and the authority behind it.
- ForfeitureA penalty that carries money only: Class A up to $10,000, Class B up to $1,000, Class C up to $500.
- Underage personA person below the legal drinking age, who commits a violation by knowingly possessing or consuming alcohol beverages. A first violation is a forfeiture of $100 to $200.
- Absolute sobrietyThe rule that a person below the legal drinking age may not drive with an alcohol concentration of more than 0.0. The forfeiture is $200, and $400 with a passenger under 16 years of age.
- Occupational licenseA limited license to drive while the operating privilege is suspended. An underage driver suspended under the absolute sobriety rule is eligible for one at any time.
- OperatePhysically working any control needed to put the vehicle in motion. No one may drive or operate while under the influence to a degree that makes them incapable of safely driving, or with a prohibited alcohol concentration.