Woman Facing DUI Charge for Driving Onto Volusia County Beach

A Florida woman is facing a litany of charges after she drove her SUV up onto a beach. The vehicle got stuck in the sand, but not before she nearly struck a child. She is currently facing charges for reckless driving, aggravated DUI, and failure to obey a traffic signal. It remains unclear what the woman was hoping to achieve by driving her vehicle on a beach, but at this point, it looks likely that she will not be driving anywhere any time soon.

According to police, the woman blew a .153 which is nearly double Florida’s legal limit for blood alcohol content and enough to trigger an aggravated DUI charge.

Aggravated DUI 

You can be charged with an aggravated DUI for any number of factors that may be present. In this case, the suspect was driving with a BAC of nearly double the legal limit. Anyone who is caught driving under the influence with a BAC of .15 or higher is subject to enhanced penalties under the law. Other factors that can trigger an aggravated DUI include having a minor in the vehicle at the time or having a second DUI within the lookback period.

The fines for an aggravated DUI are nearly 10 times as high as they are for a simple DUI. You are more likely to face jail time if you are convicted of an aggravated DUI.

Defending against an aggravated DUI charge 

In this case, the defendant was right about the legal limit for an enhanced charge. That means that through an attorney, she may be able to fight the aggravated charge. No one was injured, thankfully, so she doesn’t have to worry about a DUI charge with serious bodily injury, but there was a very serious threat posed by the woman which is why she was also charged with reckless driving.

In this case, her attorney may be able to argue that she was close to the legal limit, but the breath test isn’t precise enough to prove that she was over the limit for an aggravated charge. That means she may be able to plead the charge down to a simple DUI or fight the matter in court. It seems likely that this would be her best avenue of defense for these charges.

However, she is also likely to be convicted on reckless driving charges which could complicate her case and her ability to restore her license. In this case, prosecutors would have to establish that she operated her vehicle with a reckless disregard for public safety. At one point, a woman yelled at the driver saying she almost struck her child. It is likely this same woman will provide testimony on behalf of prosecutors to make the reckless driving charge stick.

Talk to an Orlando DUI Attorney Today 

FL DUI Group represents the interests of those who have been charged with DUI in the Orlando area. Call our Florida DUI lawyers today to schedule an appointment and we can begin preparing your defense immediately.

Source:

wptv.com/news/state/orlando-woman-charged-with-dui-after-driving-suv-onto-crowded-florida-beach