California has a different set of DUI standards for drivers who are under the legal age to consume alcohol. For most legal adults, the BAC threshold for intoxication is 0.08%. However, if the driver is under 21, they face a different set of BAC thresholds. Even a BAC as low as 0.01% can lead to the driver’s license being suspended. However, minors have a 0.05% BAC limit before they can be charged with the same DUI that an adult with a BAC of over 0.08% would face. If there is an accident, the underage driver would face not only the DUI charge at this lowered BAC, but also any other charges, such as DUI causing injury or vehicular manslaughter, that applies to the situation.
The Daily Journal reports that an 18-year-old Natasha Leodjaja is facing up to eight years in prison for a crash that killed her passenger in Redwood.
On Monday, Leodjaja pleaded no contest to charges of vehicular manslaughter and felony DUI causing injury. She will be sentenced on June 16th and faces up to eight years in state prison.
The charges stem from a February 18th crash that occurred at about 3:15 a.m. on Highway 101 in Redwood City.
Leodjaja was driving a 2018 Audi sedan south on Highway 101 near Whipple Avenue. The vehicle veered off the road, traveled down an embankment, crashed into a light pole and two trees, then rolled over before coming to a stop on the roof.
Her passenger, 18-year-old Silvia Chalista, was killed in the accident. Leodjaja was injured. She was taken to a hospital where her blood-alcohol was tested. It was discovered that she had a BAC of between 0.06% and 0.07%. Law enforcement officers noticed signs of intoxication and reported that Leodjaja had revealed she had “had lots of shots” at a party in San Francisco.
