Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/764544
Losing your livelihood over a DUI LEGAL LANE By Jim Klepper 58 January 2017 BestDriverJOBS www.bestdriverjobs.com I drive team with my cousin who was arrested for DUI in his personal vehicle. We have (or had) a great job driving team for a great paying company. Now it looks like he will lose his job, and that puts me driving single again unless I can find someone I can drive with. He is telling me the prosecutor is looking to charge him with a felony DUI because he had is minor son in the car at the me of the stop. Can they do that? - Sergi from PA The short answer to your question is YES THEY CAN! Not every state has a law that elevates a misdemeanor DUI to a felony DUI, but a lot do. The maxi- mum ages of the minor vary from 12 to 16 years old. A great example of the enhanced felony DUI charge with minors in the vehicle is Leandra's Law (Child Pas- senger Protection Act) in New York. New York makes it an automatic felony on the first offense to drive drunk with a person age 15 or younger in the vehicle. New York Vehicle Traffic Law Sec- tion 1192-2a makes it a Class E Felony for any person to operate a motor vehicle while intoxicated and trans- porting a child and can expect a prison sentence of up to four years and fines of $1,000-$5,000. Additionally, they will have to install a mandatory ignition interlock device for at least six months, their license will be automatically suspended pending prosecution, and if found guilty they will be reported to the Statewide Central Register of Child Abuse and Maltreatment and their li- cense will be suspended for a minimum of 12 months. Prosecutors will usually charge an intoxicated driver with felony DUI if he has more than one prior conviction within a certain time period. The num- ber of convictions and the time period varies by state, and, of course, it is al- ways up to the prosecutor to determine the charges against the person arrested. Some states mandate that the second or third DUI be charged as a felony, but not all do. Many states upgrade the misdemean- or DUI to a felony DUI if the driver had a restricted, suspended or revoked license at the time of the arrest. If the driver had a blood alcohol concentra-