Drug-Free Campus Guidelines: Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and the Zero Tolerance Law in New York

Driving while intoxicated (DWI), as determined by a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year imprisonment and/or up to a $1,000.00 fine for a first offense plus six months license revocation; a second or subsequent offense within 10 years is a felony. Driving while ability impaired by alcohol (DWAI, not necessarily legally intoxicated, but with a relevant level of blood alcohol content of at least .05) is also a violation, punishable by up to 15 days imprisonment and/or a $500.00 fine plus a 90-day license suspension. Repeated offenses result in more serious penalties.

Blood alcohol content (BAC) is the percentage of alcohol in your blood and is usually determined by a chemical test of breath, blood, urine or saliva. A BAC of more than .05 percent is legal evidence that you are impaired, and a BAC of .08 percent or higher is evidence of intoxication.

Under the state’s Zero Tolerance law, it is a violation for a person under age 21 to drive with any measurable BAC (.02 to .07). After a finding of violation is determined at a DMV hearing, the driver’s license will be suspended for six months. The driver will then have to pay a $100.00 suspension termination fee and a $125.00 civil penalty to be re-licensed. For a second Zero Tolerance violation, the driver’s license will be revoked for at least one year or until the driver reaches age 21, whichever is longer.

Fines and other sanctions may be imposed by local municipalities prohibiting consumption or possession of open containers in public places or private property without the owner’s permission.

NYS Penal Law 260.20: Unlawfully Dealing with a Child in the First Degree § 260.20 Unlawfully dealing with a child in the first degree.

A person is guilty of unlawfully dealing with a child in the first degree when: 2. He gives or sells or causes to be given or sold any alcoholic beverage, as defined by section three of the alcoholic beverage control law, to a person less than twenty-one years old; except that this subdivision does not apply to the parent or guardian of such a person or to a person who gives or causes to be given any such alcoholic beverage to a person under the age of twenty-one years, who is a student in a curriculum licensed or registered by the state education department, where the tasting or imbibing of alcoholic beverages is required in courses that are part of the required curriculum, provided such alcoholic beverages are given only for instructional purposes during classes conducted pursuant to such curriculum.

It is no defense to a prosecution pursuant to subdivision two of this section that the child acted as the agent or representative of another person or that the defendant dealt with the child as such.

It is an affirmative defense to a prosecution pursuant to subdivision two of this section that the defendant who sold, caused to be sold or attempted to sell such alcoholic beverage to a person less than twenty-one years old, had not been, at the time of such sale or attempted sale, convicted of a violation of this section or section 260.21 of this article within the preceding five years, and such defendant, subsequent to the commencement of the present prosecution, has completed an alcohol training awareness program established pursuant to subdivision twelve of section seventeen of the alcoholic beverage control law. A defendant otherwise qualifying pursuant to this paragraph may request and shall be afforded a reasonable adjournment of the proceedings to enable him or her to complete such alcohol training awareness program.

Unlawfully dealing with a child in the first degree is a class A misdemeanor.