Drunk-driving penalties by state

drunk driving laws

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.

Effective Dec. 30, 2018, Utah’s BAC will be set at 0.05 percent.

Forty-eight states and D.C. have increased penalties for convictions for BAC levels higher than .08

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Typically, license suspension or revocation follows a conviction for drunk driving. In addition, 44 impose an administrative license suspension, where licenses are taken before conviction when a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test.

All states have some form of ignition interlock program. Twenty-seven states (and four California counties) have made ignition interlocks mandatory or highly incentivized for all convicted drunk drivers, even first-time offenders. An additional three states mandate interlocks for high BACs, eight states require them for repeat offenders; and 8 states for both high BAC and repeat offenders. The remaining four states and D.C. make interlocks discretionary.

Another consequence of a drunk-driving violation is that car insurance after DUI is more expensive. The average percentage hike is 80 percent ($1,163 more a year), according to Insure.com's rate analysis.

Review the chart below for more information. Source: Governors Highway Safety Association; as of April 2018.

Alcohol-Impaired Driving Laws By State

State	Inc.Penalty for High BAC	Admin. License Susp. on 1st Offense	Limited Driving Privileges During Susp.	Ignition Interlocks	Vehicle and License Plate Sanctions	Open Container Laws*	Repeat Offender Laws*	Alcohol Exclusion Laws Limiting Treatment
						*Meeting Federal Requirements
Alabama	0.15	90 days		Mandatory for repeat convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Alaska	0.15	90 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle impoundment			Yes
	(at judges' disc.)
Arizona	0.15	90 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions	Immobilization or impoundment	Yes		Yes
Arkansas	0.15	6 months	Yes	Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
California	0.15	4 months	After 30 days	Discretionary	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation	Yes		Yes
				Mandatory for all convictions in Alameda, Los Angeles, Tulare and Sacramento counties (pilot project)
Colorado	0.15	3 months	Yes	Highly incentivized for all convictions		Yes	Yes
Connecticut	0.16	90 days	Yes	Mandatory for all convictions			Yes
Delaware	0.16	3 months		Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle sanction and license plate impoundment		Yes	Yes
D.C.	.20 and .25	2-90 days or until deposition	Yes	Discretionary		Yes	Yes
Florida	0.2	6 months for DUI	After 30 days	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15)convictions	Impoundment, vehicle forfeiture	Yes	Yes	Yes
		12 months for refusal	After 90 days
Georgia	0.15	1 year	Yes	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Guam	From .08 to.10			Discretionary		Yes	Yes
Hawaii	0.15	3 months	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Idaho	0.2	90 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions(eff. 1/1/19)		Yes	Yes	Yes
Illinois	0.16	6 months	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes
Indiana	0.15	180 days	After 30 days	Discretionary	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes
Iowa	0.15	180 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions(eff. 7/1/18)		Yes	Yes
Kansas	0.15	30 days		Mandatory for all convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Kentucky	0.18	30 - 120days	Yes	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions	Impoundment	Yes	Yes	Yes
Louisiana1	.15 and .20	See footnote		Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle confiscation			Yes
Maine	0.15	90 days	Yes	Highly incentivized for all convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes
Maryland		90 days	Yes, w/ interlock	Mandatory for all convictions		Yes	Yes
Massachusetts	.20 (appliesto ages 17-21)	90 days	Yes	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Michigan2	0.17	See footnote	After 45 days	Mandatory for high BAC convictions, restricted driving conditions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Minnesota	0.16	90 days	After 15 days	Mandatory for high BAC and repeat convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation,special plates/	Yes	Yes	Yes
					markings
Mississippi		90 days		Mandatory for all convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation		Yes	Yes
Missouri	0.15	90 days	After 0 days w/ interlock use (restricted)	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Vehicle forfeiture or impoundment (cities w/ 100,000+allowed to enact ordinance)		Yes	Yes
			After 30 days
			(restricted)
Montana	0.16	6 months	Yes	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nebraska	0.15	90 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle immobilization, continuous alcohol monitoring	Yes	Yes	Yes
Nevada	0.18	90 days	After 45 days	Mandatory forall convictions		Yes	Yes
New Hampshire	0.16	6 months		Mandatory for high BAC convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
New Jersey	0.1			Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
New Mexico	.16 (w/ mand. jail on all offenses)	<21: 1 yr.;	Immediately w/ Ignition Interlock	Mandatory for all convictions	Immobilization of vehicle for driving while revoked	Yes		Yes
		>21: 6 mo.
New York	0.18	Yes	Yes	Mandatory for all convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
North Carolina	0.15	30 days	After 10 days	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes
North Dakota	0.18	91 days	After 30 days	Discretionary	Vehicle confiscation, license plate removal	Yes	Yes	Yes
Northern Mariana Islands		30 days -				Yes	Yes
		<6 months
Ohio	0.17	90 days	After 15 days	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation or immobilization, restricted plates	Yes		Yes
Oklahoma	0.15	180 days	Yes	Mandatory for all convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Oregon	0.15	90 days	After 30 days	Mandatory for all convictions and diversions		Yes	Yes
Pennsylvania3	0.1		See footnote	Mandatory for high BAC (>.10) and repeat convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
				(eff. 8/25/17)
Rhode Island	.10 and .15			Mandatory for all convictions	Judicial discretion on 3rd or subsequent conviction	Yes
South Carolina	0.15	1 month(for >.15 BAC)	Yes	Mandatory for repeat convictions and for first-time offenders convicted of having a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15% orhigher	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
South Dakota4	0.17	See footnote	Yes	Discretionary		Yes
Tennessee	0.2	1 year	Yes	Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle confiscation on 2nd or subsequentconviction	Yes	Yes	Yes
Texas	0.15	90 days if.08 or greater; 180 days for refusal	Yes	Mandatory for repeat convictions	Vehicle confiscation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Utah	0.16	120 days		Mandatory for all convictions	Impoundment	Yes	Yes	Yes
Vermont		90 days		Mandatory for repeat convictions	Impoundment, vehicle confiscation	Yes		Yes
Virgin Islands		Variable	Yes		Revoke license plate	Yes	Yes
Virginia	.15 and .20	7 days		Mandatory for all convictions	Vehicle confiscation		Yes	Yes
Washington	0.15	90 days	With an ignition interlockdriver’s license	Mandatory for all convictions	Mandatory tow and 12 hour impound	Yes
West Virginia	0.15	6 months	After 30 days	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Wisconsin	.17, .20 and.25	6 months	Yes	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions		Yes	Yes	Yes
Wyoming	0.15	90 days	Yes	Mandatory for high BAC (>.15) and repeat convictions				Yes
Total States	48 + D.C., 1Terr.	44 + D.C.,2 Terr.	38 + D.C., 1Terr.	Mandatory For	Varies	33 + 3Terr.	28 +D.C., 3Terr.	37
				All (25)
				High BAC (3)
				Repeat (9)
				High BAC & Repeat (8)
				Disc.: 5 + D.C.

1 Louisiana requires a 45 day hard suspension of driving privileges for a second DWI conviction.

2 Michigan has administrative license suspension for for refusal to submit to chemical test.

3 Pennsylvania uses programs called Occupational Limited License (OLL) and Ignition Interlock Limited License (IILL).

4 South Dakota has administrative license suspension for 30 days for refusal to submit to chemical test.