If you drive drunk or drugged in Colorado with a child under 16 in the car, you face charges for both child abuse and driving under the influence.
If the child is not injured, you face misdemeanor child abuse charges. Though if the child is injured or dies, it is a felony. Plus these child abuse penalties are in addition to the underlying DUI or DWAI penalties.
To help you understand the consequences of drunk or drugged driving with a child in the car, our Colorado DUI defense lawyers address the following topics:
DUI with a child in the car is a Colorado misdemeanor if the child remains uninjured.
1. Elements
For you to be convicted of child abuse under CRS 18-6-401, prosecutors must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that:
- you caused an injury to a child’s life or health, or
- you permitted a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation that posed a threat of injury to the child’s life or health.
In Colorado, driving drunk or drugged with a child under 16 in the car is considered child abuse.1
2. Penalties
If you are convicted of DUI or DWAI with a child under 16 in your car, you face both:
- DUI or DWAI penalties and
- child abuse penalties.
The table below shows the child abuse punishments.
| Child Abuse Conviction | Colorado Sentence |
| The child was not injured | Misdemeanor: Up to 364 days in jail and/or $1,000 |
| The child was injured, and you acted with criminal negligence | Class 4 felony: 2 to 6 years in prison (with 3 years of parole) and/or $2,000 to $500,000 |
| The child was injured, and you acted recklessly | Class 3 felony: 4 to 12 years in prison (with 5 years of parole) and/or $3,000 to $750,000 |
| The child died, and you acted with criminal negligence | Class 3 felony: 4 to 12 years in prison (with 5 years of parole) and/or $3,000 to $750,000 |
| The child died, and you acted recklessly | Class 2 felony: 8 to 24 years in prison (with 5 years of parole) and/or $5,000 to $1,000,000 |
The difference between criminal negligence and recklessness comes down to whether you are aware of the risks. If you understand the risks and ignore them, you act recklessly. If you simply fail to understand the risks (but should have), you are criminally negligent.
Most of the time, felony child abuse stemming from a DUI or DWAI is considered criminal negligence, not recklessness.2
Collateral Consequences
In addition to the criminal penalties set forth above, consequences of a Colorado conviction for child abuse can include:
- Mandatory parenting classes,
- Mandatory testing for drug and alcohol,
- Denial of custody or visitation rights,
- Mandatory disclosure on employment applications, and
- Loss of your right to own a firearm.3
If you are arrested for DUI with a child in Colorado, you may also be investigated by the DHS.
3. Child Abuse Investigations
In addition to criminal penalties, a child abuse charge will invite an investigation by the Colorado Department of Human Services (DHS). Regardless of whether you are convicted, if the investigation finds you committed child abuse, your name will be entered into the TRAILS system – the Colorado State child abuse registry.
Although the public does not have full access to the TRAILS system, it is used by a number of groups involved in child welfare – including teachers, daycare centers, foster parents and community organizations.4
4. Defenses
Here at Colorado Legal Defense Group, we have represented literally thousands of people charged with DUI or DWAI, including when a child was in the car.
In our experience, the best defense tactic is to fight the drunk driving charge itself. If we win that, then the child abuse charge becomes moot.
Colorado DUI defenses often include:
- Your blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was .05% or less.
- Your driving was not impaired by alcohol or drugs.
- Your arrest was not based on probable cause.
- The officer had no reasonable suspicion to pull you over.
- Your DUI chemical test was not conducted in accordance with Colorado regulations.
- There were errors with your DUI breath test or DUI blood test.
We may also be able to get a plea bargain to a lesser charge, such as a DUI or DWAI without the child abuse charge, or misdemeanor child abuse instead of felony child abuse.
Additional Reading
For more in-depth information, refer to these scholarly articles:
- Child passengers killed in reckless and alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes – Journal of Safety Research.
- Characteristics of Child Passenger Deaths and Injuries Involving Drinking Drivers, JAMA.
- Motor Vehicle Crashes Associated with Alcohol: Child Passenger Injury and Restraint Use – American Journal of Preventive Medicine.
- Transporting Young Passengers While Impaired: The State of the Law – Health Behavior and Policy Review.
- Child Passenger Deaths Involving Alcohol-Impaired Drivers – Pediatrics.
Legal References:
- 18-6-401 C.R.S. (“(1)(a) A person commits child abuse if such person causes an injury to a child’s life or health, or permits a child to be unreasonably placed in a situation that poses a threat of injury to the child’s life or health, or engages in a continued pattern of conduct that results in malnourishment, lack of proper medical care, cruel punishment, mistreatment, or an accumulation of injuries that ultimately results in the death of a child or serious bodily injury to a child.”). See, for example, People v. Childress (2015) 363 P.3d 155. See also CRS 42-4-1301.
- Same. See, for example, People v. Deskins (Court of Appeals of Colorado, Division Four, 1995) 904 P.2d 1358; People v. Weinreich (2004) 98 P.3d 920, in which the prosecutor argued that the defendant acted recklessly when he failed to properly restrain his daughters, drove while intoxicated, and passed on the left. The verdict was reversed and the case was remanded to the lower court due to erroneous jury instructions on the issue.
- 18-12-108, C.R.S.
- Background Checks, Colorado Department of Early Childhood.