What happens if I get a DUI under 21 in California?

Three overlapping laws apply. Vehicle Code section 23136 — zero tolerance — makes driving with 0.01 percent blood alcohol or more grounds for a one-year license suspension; section 23140 makes 0.05 percent or more an infraction; and a driver under 21 can still be charged with standard DUI under section 23152 when impaired or at 0.08 percent.

California layers stricter rules on drivers under 21. The zero-tolerance law, Vehicle Code section 23136, applies at 0.01 percent blood alcohol — effectively any drinking — and works administratively through the DMV: the license is suspended for one year, with the same ten-day window to request a hearing that adult drivers face. Vehicle Code section 23140 makes driving at 0.05 percent an infraction for under-21 drivers, and nothing exempts a young driver from full misdemeanor DUI under section 23152 when the facts support it, with all its criminal penalties and program requirements. The implied-consent framework extends to preliminary alcohol screening devices for under-21 drivers, so the roadside handheld test that adults may often decline is effectively mandatory in zero-tolerance enforcement. A critical-need restricted license is possible in limited hardship circumstances, at DMV discretion. Because a suspension at the start of driving life also raises insurance costs for years, the DMV hearing — where the stop and the test result can be contested — is worth taking seriously.

Authority: Cal. Veh. Code § 23136