DRUNK
DRIVERS IN THE U.S. KILLED 17,000 PEOPLE IN 2002
(5% MORE THAN THE
PREVIOUS YEAR, 2001)
When you drink...please
don't drive!
Drunk Driving
Laws by State, Penalties for Violation:
Each state sets its own speed
limits, and it also decides what to do about drunk driving in the state. The
table below shows how states define drunk driving, whether they immediately
suspend the driver's license for first-time offenders, how long offenders have
to wait until they can drive again, and whether drunk drivers face having their
vehicles impounded or fitted with an ignition interlock. Administrative license
suspensions happen independent of the criminal process, which means drunk
drivers get taken off the roads that much more quickly. Interlocks analyze a
driver's breath and disable the ignition when they detect alcohol.
You'll notice that there are
different figures for adults and youths. That's a result of the zero-tolerance
measure passed by Congress in 1995, and subsequently by the states. It sets a
different standard for drivers under the age of 21, who cannot legally drink
alcohol.
"Per se" is Latin for in itself,
or intrinsically. An "illegal per se" law means that it is
illegal in and of itself for you to be caught driving if your Blood Alcohol
Concentration ("BAC") is over a certain amount (.10 or .08 percent,
depending on the state).
In places without an
"illegal per se" law, your BAC is just one of the factors that
determines whether or not you're a drunk driver. Other factors would include
slurred speech, unsteady gait and all those other things that the police look
for when they give those roadside tests. Every state except Massachusetts and
South Carolina has an "illegal per se" law.