Drunk-driving penalties by state
What will happen if you're pulled over for drunk driving? All 50 states and the District of Columbia have laws that define a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08 as legally drunk. 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, more than half of all U.S. 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. Check out our partner site's drunk driving limit calculator and the chart below for more information.
| State | Blood alcohol level defined as illegal | Administrative license suspension, 1st offense(1) | Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2) | Do penalties include interlock for 1st time offenders/repeat offenders?(3) |
| Alabama | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/no |
| Alaska | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Arizona | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Arkansas | 0.08 | 6 months | yes (1) | yes/yes |
| California | 0.08 | 4 months | after 30 days (1) | yes (3)/no |
| Colorado | 0.08 | 3 months | yes (1) | yes/yes |
| Connecticut | 0.08 | 90 days | yes (1) | no/no |
| Delaware | 0.08 | 3 months | no | no/no |
| District of Columbia | 0.08 | 2-90 days | yes (1) | no/no |
| Florida | 0.08 | 6 months | after 30 days (1) | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| Georgia | 0.08 | 1 year | yes (1) | no/no |
| Hawaii | 0.08 | 3 months | after 30 days (1) | yes (3)/yes |
| Idaho | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | no/no |
| Illinois | 0.08 | 3 months | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Indiana | 0.08 | 180 days | after 30 days (1) |
no/no |
| Iowa | 0.08 | 180 days | after 90 days (1) | no/no |
| Kansas | 0.08 | 30 days | no | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| Kentucky | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| Louisiana | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Maine | 0.08 | 90 days | yes (1) | no/no |
| Maryland | 0.08 | 45 days | yes (1) | no/no |
| Massachusetts | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/yes |
| Michigan | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| Minnesota | 0.08 | 90 days | after 15 days (1) | no/no |
| Mississippi | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/no |
| Missouri | 0.08 | 30 days | no | no/yes |
| Montana | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/yes |
| Nebraska | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Nevada | 0.08 | 90 days | after 45 days (1) | no/no |
| New Hampshire | 0.08 | 6 months | no | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| New Jersey | 0.08 | no | n/a | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| New Mexico | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| New York | 0.08 | variable (2) | yes | yes (3)/yes |
| North Carolina | 0.08 | 30 days | after 10 days (1) | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| North Dakota | 0.08 | 91 days | after 30 days (1) | no/no |
| Ohio | 0.08 | 90 days | after 15 days (1) | no/no |
| Oklahoma | 0.08 | 180 days | yes (1) | no/yes |
| Oregon | 0.08 | 90 days | after 30 days (1) | yes/yes |
| Pennsylvania | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| Rhode Island | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| South Carolina | 0.08 | no | n/a | yes/yes |
| South Dakota | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| Tennessee | 0.08 | no | n/a | no/no |
| Texas | 0.08 | 90 days | yes (1) | no/yes |
| Utah | 0.08 | 120 days | no | yes/yes |
| Vermont | 0.08 | 90 days | no | no/no |
| Virginia | 0.08 | 7 days | no | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| Washington | 0.08 | 90 days | yes (1) | yes/yes |
| West Virginia | 0.08 | 6 months | after 30 days (1) | high BAC offenders only/yes |
| Wisconsin | 0.08 | 6 months | yes (1) | high BAC offenders only (3)/yes |
| Wyoming | 0.08 | 90 days | yes (1) | high BAC offenders only/yes |
1. Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.
2. In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.
3. The law requiring first time offenders to install ignition interlocks will go into effect on the following dates for the following states: California on 7/1/2010; Hawaii on 1/1/2011; New York on 8/18/2010; Wisconsin on 7/1/2010 but only for high BAC offenders.
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