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Last
Modified on
Oct 29, 2025
Many motorists in the Denver area and across Colorado who have never been stopped by a police officer and been investigated for or arrested on a drinking-related offense might reasonably think that there is just a single charge associated with over-imbibing on the road.
That, they might think, is simply termed drunk driving. Alternative descriptors include driving under the influence of alcohol or driving while intoxicated.
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Conversely, drivers who have had the enduringly memorable experience of dealing with one or more law enforcement officials on the roadside in an alcohol-connected encounter likely know fully well that Colorado law provides for some material distinctions when it comes to drinking-and-driving charges.
Driving under the influence (DUI), for example, is a criminal offense that relates to a motorist’s blood-alcohol content (BAC) of .08 percent or higher. A separate offense termed driving while ability impaired (DWAI) comes into play when police allege that a motorist’s BAC when stopped was .05 percent or higher, but less than the threshold minimum required for a DUI charge.
And then there is underage DUI, which is yet another distinct and separate category under Colorado law. As we note on a relevant page of our website at the Denver metro area law firm of Pearson & Paris, P.C., the singular charge of underage DUI is a civil offense applicable to persons under the age of 21 deemed to have a BAC of at least .02 percent but not more than the DWAI threshold of .05 percent.
An underage drinking charge in Colorado is obviously a serious offense that reasonably calls for timely scrutiny and rigorous representation from a proven attorney well-versed in handling alcohol cases involving minors.
Experienced legal counsel can often challenge a drinking-related stop or charge on one or a number of grounds that can range widely from lack of probable cause to stop a vehicle in the first instance to problems with field sobriety tests, machine calibration, the veracity of witnesses and more.
