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All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se DUI Laws defining it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level, 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-one states and the District of Columbia have administrative license suspension laws.
Forty-five 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 30 states, multiple offenders may forfeit vehicles that are driven while impaired by alcohol.
Forty-three 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.
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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 DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
no
|
no/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
Alaska DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver
| | Arizona DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Arkansas DWI DUI Laws |
0.08
|
120 days
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
--
| | California DUI Laws |
0.08
|
4 months
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Colorado DUI DWAI Laws |
0.08
|
3 months
|
yes
|
yes/no
|
--
| |
Connecticut DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
yes
|
no/no
|
--
| |
Delaware DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
3 months
|
no
|
yes/no
|
--
| |
District of Columbia DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
2-90 days
|
yes
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Florida DUI Laws |
0.08
|
6 months
|
after 30 days
|
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 DUI Laws |
0.08
|
1 year
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Hawaii DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
3 months
|
after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
Idaho DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Illinois DUI Laws |
0.08
|
3 months
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Indiana DUI OWI Laws |
0.08
|
180 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
driver 4
| | Iowa DUI DWI Laws |
0.08
|
180 days
|
after 90 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Kansas DWI DUI Laws |
0.08
|
30 days
|
no
|
yes/no
|
driver
| |
Kentucky DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Louisiana DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Maine DUI Laws
|
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 DUI Laws |
0.08
|
45 days
|
yes
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Massachusetts OUI DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
no
|
no/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Michigan DUI OUIL Laws |
0.08 5
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Minnesota DWI Laws |
0.08
(eff. 08/01/05)
|
90 days
|
after 15 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Mississippi DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
no
|
yes/yes
|
--
| | Missouri DWI Laws |
0.08
|
30 days
|
no
|
yes/yes
|
--
| |
Montana DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Nebraska DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | Nevada DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 45 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| | New Hampshire DWI Laws |
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 DWI DUI Laws |
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
New Mexico DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
New York DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
variable 6
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
North Carolina DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
30 days
|
after 10 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
North Dakota DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
91 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Ohio DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 15 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Oklahoma DUI Laws |
0.08
|
180 days
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
driver
| | Oregon DUI DUII Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Pennsylvania DUI Laws |
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Rhode Island DUI Laws
|
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 DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
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driver / passenger
| |
South Dakota DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
no/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
Tennessee DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
--
|
--
|
yes/yes
|
driver 7
| | Texas DWI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
yes
|
yes/yes
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driver / passenger
| |
Utah DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
no
|
yes/no
|
driver / passenger
| |
Vermont DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
no
|
no/yes
|
driver / passenger
| | Virginia DUI Laws |
0.08
|
7 days
|
no
|
yes/yes
| | | Washington DUI Laws |
0.08
|
90 days
|
after 30 days
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
West Virginia DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
6 months
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after 30 days
|
yes/no
|
--
| | Wisconsin OWI DWI DUI Laws |
0.08
|
6 months
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
| |
Wyoming DUI Laws
|
0.08
|
90 days
|
yes
|
no/no
|
driver
|
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 Indiana, the open container restriction only applies if the driver has a BAC of 0.04.
5 The 0.08 per se BAC law in Michigan contains a sunset clause which states that the legal BAC will revert to 0.10 on October 1, 2013.
6 In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.
7 In 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.
DUI LAWS & DWI LAWS – (credit to www.hwysafety.org) as of July 2004
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