driving articles 2010 - drunk driving articles 2010

Driving Under the Influence

DUI

Every year thousands of people die in motor vehicle accidents in the United States where Drunk Driving is involved. Drunk driving and the driver who is driving under the influence are hazards everyone faces each time they drive on the streets and highways across the United States.

DUI Laws

There are laws in every state in the United States against drunk driving. The penalties and consequences for drunk driving are severe and can affect you for the rest of your life.

DUI Laws are referred to in different ways. DUI (driving under the influence) is the term used in most of the states. DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) is the term used in other states. Other terms used are OUI, OWI, DUII, DWAI, OUIL or OMVI.

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have per se laws that define it as a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above a proscribed level. This varies from state to state at 0.08% to 0.10%. Forty-five states allow some previous offenders to drive only if their vehicles are equipped with ignition interlocks. These are devices that analyze the breath of a driver and render the ignition inoperable if the driver has been drinking. In 30 states, multiple offenders may lose the vehicles they were driving while impaired by alcohol. Forty-three states and Washington D.C. have laws prohibiting the driver, passengers or both from having an open container of alcohol in the passenger compartment of a vehicle.

As time passes, these drunk driving laws are only going to get tougher and tougher. Both the federal and the state governments are cracking down on drunk driving. More and more groups and organizations like MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving) are calling for stricter and more severe DUI Penalties.