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
|
driver4
|
| 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 |
0.085
|
--
|
--
|
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
|
variable6
|
yes
|
yes/yes
|
driver / passenger
|
| North Carolina DUI DWI Law |
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 OUI 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
|
driver7
|
| 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
|
1Information pertains to drivers in violation of the BAC defined as illegal per se for all drivers, not the special BAC for young drivers.
2Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.
3A multiple offender's vehicle may be seized and disposed.
4In Indiana, the open container restriction only applies if the driver has a BAC of 0.04.
5The 0.08 per se BAC law in Michgan contains a sunset clause which states that the legal BAC will revert to 0.10 on October 1, 2013.
6In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.
7In 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
