Everyone knows that drinking and driving is extremely dangerous and is a serious criminal offense in every state. But not everyone fully understand the far-reaching consequences that can result. And nearly every state is expanding those consequences. What most people don’t know, however, is that, in most states, when someone is caught drinking and driving with a child in the car, the consequences can be so much worse.
At a Glance
- Core Question: How do states penalize drinking and driving when a child is in the vehicle?
- The Short Answer: It depends on the state, but it is universally treated as an aggravated offense. Most states use “sentence enhancements” (doubling jail/fines), while others, like Georgia and New Jersey, treat it as a separate, additional criminal charge for each child present.
- Key Requirement: To trigger these enhanced penalties, states typically require:
- Proof of Impairment: A BAC at or above the legal limit (usually 0.08% BAC)
- Age Verification: A passenger under a specific age (typically under 14, 15, or 16, depending on the state)
- Expert Verification: Explained by Michael Flannery, family law attorney and professor
- Relevance: Applicable for family law, criminal defense, and child custody cases in 2026
What are the consequences for alcohol-impaired driving with a child in the car?
It’s key to note that drinking and driving with a child in the car often results in child fatality.
In a study reported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, nearly 8,000 child passengers under the age of 15 died in motor vehicle crashes between 2011 and 2020. Of those crashes, twenty-two percent (22%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver. The child who died was in the same vehicle as the impaired driver in approximately sixty-five percent (65%) of those crashes. Similar annual data has been reported by the NHTSA (2022 data), Centers for Disease Control (2020 data), and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) (2018 report).
But even when there is no accident or fatality, nearly every state imposes even more severe penalties when someone operates a motor vehicle while alcohol-impaired when there is a child passenger.
Although the consequences vary from state to state, the criminal penalties imposed for drunk driving with a child in the vehicle can be much more severe that the penalties for standard impaired-driving or DUI offenses.
In addition, the driver may be subject to other criminal charges for child endangerment, which can increase the overall criminal penalties and, if the intoxicated driver is the parent of the child, can also affect the parent’s legal custody of the child.
3 ways states address drinking and driving with a child in the car
Despite minor differences in individual state laws for impaired driving with a child in the vehicle, nearly every state in the country has responded uniformly to the problem by either imposing more severe criminal penalties or expanding the nature of the criminal offenses brought against the offenders.
In general, states have adopted three different approaches to enforcing criminal laws against drivers who endanger child passengers by driving under the influence of alcohol. Most states have enacted specific criminal statutes that specifically refer to alcohol-impaired driving offenses involving child passengers.
1. Aggravated or enhanced DUI penalties
Much like crimes for “aggravated murder” or “aggravated criminal assault” – increased offenses charged for committing a standard offense under aggravated circumstances (like committing a standard murder but in an especially violent manner), many states have adopted “aggravated” DUI offenses.
These aggravated offenses are based on the increased danger to a child who is present during a standard DUI offense. The aggravated charges typically result in enhanced sentences with additional or stricter conditions imposed, as compared to normal DUI penalties.
Examples of states’ aggravated DUI offense penalties
In Arkansas, the normal penalty for a first offense of driving while intoxicated is imprisonment for no less than 24 hours but no more than one year. But if there is a child passenger in the vehicle at the time of the offense, the punishment is imprisonment for no less than seven days but no more than one year.
In Alabama and Wisconsin, when a person is convicted of DUI with a child passenger, the minimum penalties that would have been imposed without the child present are simply doubled.
States like California, Connecticut, Delaware, Kansas, and many others, increase their enhanced sentences for each repeated offense.
For example, Florida imposes increased fines of…
- No less than $1,000 or more than $2,000 for a first conviction
- No less than $2,000 or more than $4,000 for a second conviction
- No less than $4,000 for a third or subsequent conviction
… and imprisonment for:
- No more than 9 months for a first conviction
- No more than 12 months for a second conviction
Other states, like Hawaii, Illinois, and Tennessee simply add increased fines and jail time to the normal penalties for DUI offenses, while states like Maryland, Massachusetts, and Montana designate specific ranges for their increased fines and prison terms.
Taking child safety into more detailed consideration, the District of Columbia enhances its penalties based on whether or not a child was wearing a seatbelt. It increases DUI penalties by:
- A mandatory minimum of five days of incarceration if the child was properly restrained (with a seatbelt or child-safety seat)
- A mandatory minimum of 10 days if the child is not properly restrained
Where drinking and driving with a child in the car is considered a “new” (separate) charge from a standard DUI
Other states create new offenses that are separate from the standard DUI offenses but impose similar enhanced penalties.
For example, New Jersey’s statute for driving while intoxicated with a child in the car constitutes a “disorderly person’s offense,” which includes a separate punishment from the standard drunk-driving offenses.
Nebraska still classifies its offense as a Class I misdemeanor driving offense, but expressly provides that the offense is punishable separately from any other offense that may be charged.
In these and several other states, driving a vehicle with a child present is considered a separate crime, in addition to a standard DUI offense that can be charged against the intoxicated driver.
2. Dual charges: DUI and child endangerment
Another option applied by most states is to charge the offender with violations of the DUI laws under the criminal motor vehicle statutes, but also to charge the offender separately with criminal child endangerment or neglect laws.
This can increase the amounts of fines to be paid and jail time to be served. It also addresses the parent’s or guardian’s ability to properly care for the child.
Around 33 states expressly provide for child endangerment statutes to be applied with DUI offenses, if appropriate. However, every state has child endangerment provisions that can always be applied at the discretion of the prosecutor or the court.
Enforcing dual charges with separate statutes in states like Alaska, Georgia, Louisiana, and South Carolina can also prompt appropriate Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations and lead to changes in custody and other collateral consequences.
3. Felony enhancement: Mandatory minimum jail time
Most states classify standard DUI offenses as criminal misdemeanor violations with specific class designations or levels of severity. A child’s involvement usually increases the penalties, but the offense typically remains classified as a misdemeanor.
However, a handful of states – including Arizona, Illinois, and New York – enhance the standard misdemeanor DUI offense to a felony offense when a child is present at the time of the offense. The felony charge then carries increased penaltie.
Several states, like Idaho, Indiana, and Mississippi, increase the status of the offense to a felony if the DUI offense results in significant injury or the death of a child.
Ohio retains its misdemeanor status if the offense results in no harm to the child, but transitions the offense to a felony of the fifth degree if the offense results in serious physical harm to the child or if the offender “has previously been convicted of a like offense, or of any offense involving neglect, abandonment, contributing to the delinquency of, or physical abuse of a child.”
What jail time can you face for drinking and driving with a child in the car?
Jail time is the variable that differs the most from state to state for driving while intoxicated with a child present.
Most states impose a possible range of days or months to which an offender may be imprisoned for a normal DUI, with an enhanced range for DUI offenses with a child. Other states simply designate allowable imprisonment terms that are “no less than” and “no more than” specific durations, usually ranging from several hours to several days or even months.
Here are some examples of states’ mandatory minimum terms of imprisonment for child-involved DUI offenses.
Hours of jail time
States that impose 48 hours of imprisonment for first offenses include:
- California
- Hawaii
- Maine
- Montana
Days of jail time
In Kentucky:
- 4 days for the first offense in a 10-year period
- 14 days for a second offense
- 60 days for a third offense
- 240 days for a fourth offense
In Washington, D.C.:
- 5 days if the child was restrained with a seatbelt or car seat
- 10 days if the child was not restrained
In Maryland:
- 10 days for a third or subsequent offense
Months of jail time
- Illinois – 3 months for a third offense
- North Carolina – No less than 12-36 months for a first offense
- Mississippi – No less than 5 to 25 years if the offense results in serious injury or death to a child
Other than states that impose prison sentences up to 10 years – for violations in which a child is seriously injured or killed – Massachusetts imposes one of the stricter optional prison sentences: between 6 months and 2.5 years for repeat offenders.
Can I avoid going to jail?
Except for states that impose mandatory minimum sentences, most state sentencing ranges or specific designations are optional and are left to the discretion of the prosecutor bringing charges, or the jury or court deciding the appropriate sentence upon conviction.
Louisiana, for example, allows for a first-time offender to avoid a prison term by being placed on probation and performing no less than 32 hours of court-approved community service, at least half of which must include participating in a litter collection program and a court-approved substance abuse program, if appropriate.
What sentencing or probation conditions can be imposed?
In addition to jail time and hefty fines, it is common for DUI offenders to be subject to a variety of collateral consequences for their poor decisions. Courts are normally authorized to impose specific sentencing or probation conditions as part of the overall penalties for DUI offenses, particularly when the offense is committed with a child in the vehicle.
Mandatory ignition interlock devices
In California, the most recent amendment to California Motor Vehicle Code section 23247, which became effective on January 1, 2026, imposes a $5,000 fine and 6 months in jail on any driver whose driving privileges have been restricted after conviction of a DUI to operate any vehicle not equipped with a functioning, certified ignition interlock device (IID).
These devices function as breathalyzers that are wired to the ignition of the vehicle. The offender is required to blow into the device before the ignition becomes operational. If the offender’s blood alcohol content (BAC) registers above a proscribed level, the vehicle will not start.
Several other states – including Florida, Connecticut, and Hawaii – prohibit DUI offenders with a child present from operating any motor vehicle that is not equipped with an IID.
Remote alcohol monitoring systems
Many courts have relied on the use of blood alcohol monitoring systems, such as BACtrack View, to monitor offenders convicted of DUI and other alcohol-related offenses.
Suspended or revoked driver’s license
Many states – such as Connecticut, Maine, and New Hampshire – require the revocation or suspension of drivers’ licenses for extended periods after a conviction for DUI with a child present.
The bottom line on drinking and driving with a child present
Getting behind the wheel of a car while intoxicated is one of the most dangerous and regrettable decisions a person can make. The only worse decision under those circumstances is to have a child in the car at the time.
What many people fail to realize, however, is just how far-reaching and damaging the consequences of such poor judgment can be.
Nearly every state in the country recognizes the danger associated with drunk driving, and the added danger to a child who may be present in the vehicle at the time. In response, almost all states have undertaken any of three different approaches to combat this problem.
Specifically, states have opted to:
- Enhance the traditional penalties for standard DUI offenses to more strictly punish those who offend with a child present
- Supplement standard DUI offenses with child endangerment offenses to expand the punitive purposes of the criminal motor vehicle laws to include a child-protection purpose
- Reclassify traditional misdemeanor DUI offenses as felony offenses, perhaps with mandatory minimum prison terms, for aggravated circumstances under which a child is placed at risk by the DUI offense.
As this article demonstrates, the approaches adopted by the states are clear and simple, but the many variations of their applications among the states are diverse and complex. Responding to a DUI offense requires professional legal advice from an experienced criminal attorney.
But understanding how all states are posturing to enhance traditional DUI penalties to better protect children from the lapsed judgment of a parent suffering with alcohol abuse disorder may be a small first step to preventing the harm and consequences that inevitably result from driving drunk with a child in the car.
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