DUI/DWI Laws

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.

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

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

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

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