State Law Facts:
DUI/DWI LAWS
(from the 
)
State Law Facts:
DUI/DWI LAWS
(from the )
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.
Thirty-seven
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 22 states,
multiple offenders may forfeit vehicles that
are driven
while impaired by alcohol.
IN NEW YORK CITY, YOU NOW FORFEIT YOUR VEHICLE ON A FIRST TIME DUI,
AND YOU DON'T GET IT BACK UNLESS YOU ARE AQUITTED!!!
1.Laws in Massachusetts and South Carolina aren't per se laws. A BAC
of 0.10 percent in South Carolina and 0.08 percent in Massachusetts
is evidence of alcohol impairment but isn't illegal per se.
2.Information
pertains to drivers in violation of the BAC defined as
illegal per se for all drivers, not the special BAC for young drivers.
3.Drivers
usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring
privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.
4.A multiple offender's vehicle may be seized and disposed.
5.In
New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution
is complete.
6.Washington's
0.08 percent BAC and administrative license suspension
provisions take effect January 1, 1999.
Source: NHTSA/FARS
Data, *=Percent of Alcohol-Related Deaths Above National Average