Blood Alcohol Limits by State

Formerly, the limits on blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol content (BAC) varied by state. That is no longer the case, as all 50 states as well as Washington, D.C. have enacted laws that make it a crime for a driver to operate a vehicle with a BAC of 0.08% or higher. The only factor that now varies by state is the severity of the punishments for driving under the influence. Some states give first-time offenders little more than a slap on the wrist, while other states impose very harsh sanctions even for new offenders. Read on to learn more about the consequences of driving with a blood alcohol content over the legal limit.

Background on BAC

Considered the gold standard for measuring intoxication, blood alcohol content describes the concentration of alcohol in a person’s blood expressed as a ratio of the volume of alcohol to the volume of blood in the body. This can be an issue for students who tend to weigh less and drink more, and if they end up with a DUI it will be nearly impossible to find cheap student car insurance. Blood alcohol concentration is measured most accurately through blood tests, but such tests are expensive, inconvenient, and time consuming. The alternative most commonly used in the United States is a breathalyzer device, which can estimate a driver’s BAC accurately by analyzing the amount of alcohol expelled in his/her breath.

Americans are usually surprised to hear that the United States, along with a few other countries, has the highest limit for driver blood alcohol content in the world. A few blood alcohol limits by country are listed below.

• Saudi Arabia – 0.0%
• China – 0.02%
• Sweden – 0.02%
• Japan – 0.03%
• Ireland – 0.05%
• Canada, United Kingdom, United States, and Mexico – 0.08%

Consequences of a High BAC

When a driver is convicted of driving under the influence based on his/her BAC, a driver’s license revocation or suspension usually follows. In fact, licenses are typically confiscated before the conviction in a procedure known as administrative license suspension, which occurs when a driver fails or refuses to submit to a BAC test. Administrative license suspension laws exist in Washington, D.C. and 41 states.

Ignition interlock devices, which analyze the driver’s breath before allowing the vehicle to start, are also a common consequence of exceeding the BAC limit. Currently, 13 states require the devices for all offenders, including first-time offenders; nine states require them for drivers with very high BACs (typically higher than 0.15%); and six states require them for repeat offenders.