Drink Driving Penalties
Drink driving penalties in the United States vary from state to state to some degree but there is a large degree of common ground for dui penalties in each state.
Drink driving is a serious offense and even though there may be slight differences between California dui laws and dwi in Texas or Florida dui laws there is a common approach to drink driving penalties which we set out below. We start by taking a look at Virginia dui laws and will cover other states in due course including Texas, California and Florida dwi.
Many new dui laws have been passed in the last 20/30 years due to the activity of the Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (MADD) group.
Administrative License Revocation Law (ALR)
The legal drinking age in the United States is common between all states at 21 and about 66% of states have adopted the Administrative Licence Revocation (ALR) law which allows the suspension or revocation of your driving licence if your BAC (blood alcohol level) is above the state limit.
Implied Consent Laws
If you refuse to provide a BAC sample then your licence can be revoked or suspended by the administrative authority such as the Department of Motor Vehicles in your state. This is the “implied consent laws” adopted by most states which holds that you give implied consent to submit to some form of testing to establish your bac level such as through a blood, urine or breath sample.
The “implied consent laws” of most states will stipulate that you automatically forfeit your license for between 6 months and one year.
BAC Level-Blood Alcohol Concentration Level
All states now have a BAC limit of .08 percent for adults. This is called the “Per Se” blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level and means that if your BAC is at .08 or above you are guilty in the eyes of the law with no further proof required.
Zero Tolerance BAC level
There is also a “Zero Tolerance” BAC level in all states which means that if you are under 21 and have ANY trace of alcohol in your system then you are guilty of an offense.
Enhanced Penalty BAC level
There is also an “enhanced penalty” blood alcohol concentration level law adopted in many states which aims to penalise drivers with a BAC level of .15 to .20 which is significantly above the limit allowed in all states.
The increased penalties for such offenders include additional jail time, severe driver licence sanctions and harsher fines.
Habitual Offenders
A lot of states have enacted special laws for habitual offenders which see the court categorizing you as a habitual offender after 3 convictions, although this is only 2 in many states. This is commonly known as the Three Strikes law.
Habitual Violators Laws
These Habitual Violator laws see felony penalties being handed down for 3 convictions and the removal of basic rights such as the right to vote, hold a driver’s licence or a weapon.
If you fall into this category your state will likely expect you to go to Dui School for assessment and education before giving you your licence back.
This will also involve an assessment interview with a counsellor who will decide what steps you need to take before applying for your licence back.
The drink driving penalties are designed to encourage drivers to take responsibility for their actions and damages inflicted on other people and property.
In addition to the drink driving penalties outlined above such as revocation of your licence, jail and fines some states have adopted these additional drink driving penalties:
1. Vehicle confiscation-this can be for a short period of time or permanently
2. Ignition interlock-this device measures your BAC level and if your BAC is above a minimal level, like .02, then the car will not start.
If you have been convicted of a dui offense then you will be required to pay for the installation and maintenance of such a device.
These drink driving penalties are the most common across the United States. This site will be taking a closer look at California dui laws, DWI in Texas, Florida dui laws, dui consequences, dui insurance, Virginia dui law and the other consequences of driving under the influence.
