Drunk driving laws by U.S. State. Blood and breath alcohol limits while driving.

Welcome to OHS™...and...thank you for your interest in our company!
We invite you to visit our new sister-company's website, today, too! Health-Tests Direct

Drunk driving laws by each U.S. State. Blood and breath alcohol limits while driving.

In 2002...
DRUNK DRIVERS IN THE U.S. KILLED 17,000 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN!
(5% MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, 2001)
When you drink...please don't drive...we are NOT getting any safer at it!

Drunk Driving Laws by State, and the Penalties for DUI/DWI Violation.

DUI/DWI LAWS as of March 2004
(Chart of all states and penalties is below.)

DUI/DWI LAWS
as of March 2004

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level, usually 0.08 percent.

License suspension or revocation traditionally follows conviction for alcohol-impaired driving. Under a procedure called administrative license suspension, licenses are taken before conviction when a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test. Because administrative license suspension laws are independent of criminal procedures and are invoked right after arrest, they've been found to be more effective than traditional post-conviction sanctions. Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have administrative license suspension laws.

Forty-three states permit some offenders to drive only if their vehicles have been equipped with ignition interlocks. These devices analyze a driver's breath and disable the ignition if the driver has been drinking.

In 29 states, multiple offenders may forfeit vehicles that are driven while impaired by alcohol.

Forty-two states and Washington D.C. have laws prohibiting the driver, passengers or both from possessing an open container of alcohol in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.

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	Open container laws
Alabama	0.08	90 days	no	no/no	driver/passenger
Alaska	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver
Arizona	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Arkansas	0.08	120 days	yes	yes/yes	--
California	0.08	4 months	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Colorado	0.10	3 months	yes	yes/no	--
Connecticut	0.08	90 days	yes	no/no	--
Delaware	0.10	3 months	no	yes/no	--
District of Columbia	0.08	2-90 days	yes	no/no	driver/passenger
Florida	0.08	6 months	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger

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	Open container laws
Georgia	0.08	1 year	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Hawaii	0.08	3 months	after 30 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
Idaho	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
Illinois	0.08	3 months	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Indiana	0.08	180 days	after 30 days	yes/no	driver⁴
Iowa	0.08	180 days	after 90 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
Kansas	0.08	30 days	no	yes/no	driver
Kentucky	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Louisiana	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver
Maine	0.08	90 days	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger

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	Open container laws
Maryland	0.08	45 days	yes	yes/no	driver/passenger
Massachusetts	0.08	90 days	no	no/no	driver/passenger
Michigan	0.08⁵	--	--	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Minnesota	0.10	90 days	after 15 days	no/yes	driver/passenger
Mississippi	0.08	90 days	no	yes/yes	--
Missouri	0.08	30 days	no	yes/yes	--
Montana	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Nebraska	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
Nevada	0.08	90 days	after 45 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
New Hampshire	0.08	6 months	no	yes/no	driver/passenger

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	Open container laws
New Jersey	0.08	--	--	yes/no	driver/passenger
New Mexico	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/no	driver/passenger
New York	0.08	variable⁶	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger
North Carolina	0.08	30 days	after 10 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
North Dakota	0.08	91 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Ohio	0.08	90 days	after 15 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Oklahoma	0.08	180 days	yes	yes/yes	driver
Oregon	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Pennsylvania	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Rhode Island	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver

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	Open container laws
South Carolina	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver/passenger
South Dakota	0.08	--	--	no/no	driver/passenger
Tennessee	0.08	--	--	yes/yes	driver⁷
Texas	0.08	90 days	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Utah	0.08	90 days	no	yes/no	driver/passenger
Vermont	0.08	90 days	no	no/yes	driver/passenger
Virginia	0.08	7 days	no	yes/no
Washington	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes	driver/passenger
West Virginia	0.08 (eff. 05/05/04)	6 months	after 30 days	yes/no	--
Wisconsin	0.08	6 months	yes	yes/yes	driver/passenger
Wyoming	0.08	90 days	yes	no/no	driver

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

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

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

⁴In Indiana, the open container restriction only applies if the driver has a BAC of 0.04.

⁵The 0.08 per se BAC law in Michgan contains a sunset clause which states that the legal BAC will revert to 0.10 on October 1, 2013.

⁶In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.

⁷In Tennessee, the open container law does not prohibit any municipality, by ordinance, or any county, by resolution, from prohibiting passengers from possessing an open container.

©1996-2004, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute | Copyright and Use of Images Notice
Last modified: 26-Mar-2004

The above chart is provided by OHS, Inc. to you through the courtesy of The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute | http://www.highwaysafety.org
Last modified: 26-Mar-2004

Please note, that this information is for general informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice. At any given time one or more states may be reviewing or revising their drunk driving laws, and the legal limits they set for BAC while operating a motor vehicle. Therefore, if you need this information for legal purposes, please confirm the information shown above for your state with your state's own department of transportation or with a state or local police agency.

In 2002... DRUNK DRIVERS IN THE U.S. KILLED 17,000 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN! (5% MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, 2001) When you drink...please don't drive...we are NOT getting any safer at it! Drunk Driving Laws by State, and the Penalties for DUI/DWI Violation.

DUI/DWI LAWS as of March 2004 (Chart of all states and penalties is below.)

DUI/DWI LAWS as of March 2004

In 2002...
DRUNK DRIVERS IN THE U.S. KILLED 17,000 MEN, WOMEN, AND CHILDREN!
(5% MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS YEAR, 2001)
When you drink...please don't drive...we are NOT getting any safer at it!

Drunk Driving Laws by State, and the Penalties for DUI/DWI Violation.

DUI/DWI LAWS as of March 2004
(Chart of all states and penalties is below.)

DUI/DWI LAWS
as of March 2004