What will happen to you if you're pulled over for drunk driving? All states have "per se laws" that say it's a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08. Typically, license suspension or revocation follows a conviction for drunk driving. In addition, some states impose an administrative license suspension, where licenses are taken before conviction when a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test.

After a conviction, most states permit offenders to drive only if their vehicles have been equipped with ignition interlocks, which analyze a driver's breath and disable the ignition if alcohol is detected. Plus, many states force multiple offenders to forfeit the vehicles they were driving while impaired by alcohol.

State Blood alcohol level defined as illegal Administrative license suspension, 1st offense(1) Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
Alabama 0.08 90 days no no/no
Alaska 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/yes
Arizona 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/yes
Arkansas 0.08 120 days yes yes/yes
California 0.08 4 months after 30 days yes/yes
Colorado 0.08 3 months yes yes/no
Connecticut 0.08 90 days yes yes/no
Delaware 0.08 3 months no yes/no
District of Columbia 0.08 2-90 days yes yes/no
Florida 0.08 6 months after 30 days yes/yes

 

State BAC Defined as illegal per se Administrative license suspension 1st offense(1) Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
Georgia 0.08 1 year yes yes/yes
Hawaii 0.08 3 months after 30 days yes/no
Idaho 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/no
Illinois 0.08 3 months after 30 days yes/yes
Indiana 0.08 180 days after 30 days

yes/yes

Iowa 0.08 180 days after 90 days yes/no
Kansas 0.08 30 days no yes/no
Kentucky 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
Louisiana 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/yes
Maine 0.08 90 days yes yes/yes

 

State BAC Defined as illegal per se Administrative license suspension 1st offense(1) Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
Maryland 0.08 45 days yes yes/no
Massachusetts 0.08 90 days no yes/yes
Michigan 0.08 30 days yes yes/yes
Minnesota 0.08 90 days after 15 days yes/yes
Mississippi 0.08 90 days no yes/yes
Missouri 0.08 30 days no yes/yes
Montana 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
Nebraska 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/no
Nevada 0.08 90 days after 45 days yes/no
New Hampshire 0.08 6 months no yes/no

 

State BAC Defined as illegal per se Administrative license suspension 1st offense(1) Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
New Jersey 0.08 no n/a yes/no
New Mexico 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/no
New York 0.08 variable(4) yes yes/yes
North Carolina 0.08 30 days after 10 days yes/yes
North Dakota 0.08 91 days after 30 days yes/yes
Ohio 0.08 90 days after 15 days yes/yes
Oklahoma 0.08 180 days yes yes/yes
Oregon 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/yes
Pennsylvania 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
Rhode Island 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
 
State BAC Defined as illegal per se Administrative license suspension 1st offense(1) Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
South Carolina 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
South Dakota 0.08 no n/a no/no
Tennessee 0.08 no n/a yes/yes
Texas 0.08 90 days yes yes/yes
Utah 0.08 90 days no yes/no
Vermont 0.08 90 days no no/yes
Virginia 0.08 7 days no yes/yes
Washington 0.08 90 days after 30 days yes/yes
West Virginia 0.08 6 months after 30 days yes/no
Wisconsin 0.08 6 months yes yes/yes
Wyoming 0.08 90 days yes yes/no

 

1. Information pertains to drivers in violation of the BAC defined as illegal per se for all drivers, not the special BAC for young drivers.

2. Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.

3. A multiple offender's vehicle may be seized and disposed.

4. In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.

Notes: The 0.08 per se BAC law in Michigan contains a sunset clause which states that legal BAC will revert to 0.10 on Oct. 1, 2013.

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety

 


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                                          Drunk Driving Penalties

The search term "drunk driving penalty" and "drunk driving penalties" are usually used by people who are looking for information about the laws in California concerning punishment for driving under the influence of alcohol, also known as "dui" or "dwi" (driving while intoxicated). The laws in California applicable to "drunk driving" are harsh and extremely complex as to the procedures, evidence, punishment and administrative license suspensions; to make matters worse, normal constitutional protections often do not apply. The offense can consist of driving under the influence of alcohol or a combination of alcohol and drugs, which can be largely established with police opinion testimony, or it can consist of driving with a blood-alcohol concentration of .08% or higher; in most cases, both offenses will be charged. Punishment involves a labarynth of statutes, requiring jail, fines, schools, license restrictions/suspensions, ignition interlock devices, vehicle forfeiture, probation, etc.; some can involve factual variables triggering so-called "enhancements", which increase the sentence. Separate from the criminal proceedings, the arrestee has the right to demand a hearing to contest the administrative suspension of his or her driver's license.

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