May
22
2011

DUI Car Insurance Rates and State DUI Laws DWI Laws

An article by admin

There are many moral and legal reasons you should not drink and drive. With that in mind, why don’t we stick to a practical subject – your bank account! Before we go on, here is a Chart of DUI/DWI laws. I thought it would be useful to list for readers of this Blog the most current Driving Under the Influence (DUI) and Driving While Impaired Laws (DWI) by each state. This Chart and information was reproduced by written permission of Insurance Institute for Highway Safety who hold its copyright.

DUI/DWI laws

January 2009

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se 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. Administrative license suspension laws are in place in 41 states and the District of Columbia.

Some offenders in 47 states and the District of Columbia are permitted 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 32 states, multiple offenders may have to forfeit their vehicles.

Laws prohibiting the driver, passengers, or both from possessing an open container of alcohol in the passenger compartment of a vehicle are in place in 43 states and the District of Columbia.

State	BAC defined as illegal per se	Administrative license suspension 1st offense?	Restore driving privileges during suspension? After How Many Days?	Do penalties include interlock	Vehicle forfeiture for multiple offenses	Open container laws
Alabama	0.08	90 days	no	no	no	driver/passenger
Alaska	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver
Arizona	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Arkansas	0.08	120 days	yes¹	yes	yes	no
California	0.08	4 months	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Colorado	0.08	3 months	yes¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Connecticut	0.08	90 days	yes¹	yes	no	no
Delaware	0.08	3 months	no	yes	no	no
District Columbia	0.08	2-90 days	yes¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Florida	0.08	6 months	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Georgia	0.08	1 year	yes¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Hawaii	0.08	3 months	30 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Idaho	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Illinois	0.08	3 months	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Indiana	0.08	180 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Iowa	0.08	180 days	90 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Kansas	0.08	30 days	no	yes	no	driver
Kentucky	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Louisiana	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Maine	0.08	90 days	yes¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Maryland	0.08	45 days	yes¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Massachusetts	0.08	90 days	no	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Michigan	0.08²	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Minnesota	0.08	90 days	15 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Mississippi	0.08	90 days	no	yes	yes	no
Missouri	0.08	30 days	no	yes	yes	no
Montana	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Nebraska	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
Nevada	0.08	90 days	45 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
New Hampshire	0.08	6 months	no	yes	no	driver/passenger
New Jersey	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	no	driver/passenger
New Mexico	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	no	driver/passenger
New York	0.08	variable³	yes¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
North Carolina	0.08	30 days	10 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
North Dakota	0.08	91 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Ohio	0.08	90 days	15 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Oklahoma	0.08	180 days	yes¹	yes	yes	driver
Oregon	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Pennsylvania	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Rhode Island	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver
South Carolina	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver/passenger
South Dakota	0.08	no	not applicable	no	no	driver/passenger
Tennessee	0.08	no	not applicable	yes	yes	driver⁴
Texas	0.08	90 days	yes¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Utah	0.08	90 days	no	yes	no	driver/passenger
Vermont	0.08	90 days	no	no	yes	driver/passenger
Virginia	0.08	7 days	no	yes	yes	no
Washington	0.08	90 days	30 days¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
West Virginia	0.08	6 months	30 days ¹	yes	no	no
Wisconsin	0.08	6 months	yes¹	yes	yes	driver/passenger
Wyoming	0.08	90 days	yes¹	yes	no	driver/passenger

¹Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.

²The 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.

³In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.

⁴In Tennessee, municipalities and counties can prohibit passengers from possessing an open container

Getting arrested for drinking and driving is an expensive proposition. First, you are going to pay a defense attorney at minimum several thousand dollars to defend you. Then you are going to pay court costs, fees and fines. The loss of your driver’s license and time in jail will also have an indirect financial cost as well. But wait there’s more. What happens to your car insurance premiums?

Insurance is all about calculating risk. The lower the risk associated, the lower the premiums for an insurance policy. The opposite is true as well. The higher the risk, the higher the premiums. Well, guess how insurance view your driving abilities if you have a conviction for drunk driving whether it be a DWI, DUI or whatever variation of the offense? You will be viewed as falling into the highest risk category they insure.

Some auto insurance companies may simply cancel your policy out right. For those that don’t expect your auto insurance premiums to increase significantly, probably four fold or five fold. That’s a lot of money particularly after the costs you’ve already paid for your DUI/DWI case. But wait, there’s more.

Your new, huge car insurance premiums are not going to last for just one year. They will be around for a minimum of the next 3 to 5 years!

There are plenty of reasons not to drink and drive. Just on money lost alone simply compare the insanely high cost of car insurance after a drunk driving conviction compared to the cost of driving before you were convicted. Financially, it just makes sense to let someone else drive if you are drinking. Feel free to check out the Free Quote Auto Insurance quote box at the top of this blog to save on auto insurance premiums. This article incorporates a portion of “The Impact of a DUI on Your Car Insurance Premium” by Dirk Gibson with permission to republish