The way things stand, the best way to avoid getting arrested and prosecuted for DUI or DUID remains not drinking alcohol or taking any drugs—even legally prescribed ones—before getting behind the wheel and driving away.
In the United States, having a blood alcohol concentration or BAC of 0.08 percent or higher while driving can get you arrested for DUI. Naturally, people would think that as long as their BAC stays below that, they can still drive without worrying about DUI charges.
Unfortunately for them, a BAC of below 0.08 percent will not automatically save them from prosecution. Here are some of the reasons and circumstances that could still get you arrested and prosecuted for DUI even if your BAC is below 0.08 percent.
Zero tolerance
Zero tolerance laws were put in place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia as a way to curtail drunk driving among drivers below 21, the legal drinking age in the United States. With these laws, anyone below 21 caught driving with a BAC of even as low as 0.01 percent will likely face arrest and a DUI charge.
Signs of impairment
Police officers are always on the lookout for signs of impaired driving. Whenever cops spot cars that swerve, drift, take a sudden turn, weave in and out of traffic, suddenly change lanes, or go past the speed limit, they will do what they can to pull them over and check if they’re driving under the influence. And, even if a breathalyzer test shows you have a BAC below 0.08, field sobriety tests could give the police officer reason to believe you are, indeed, driving impaired, and book you for a DUI.
Drugged driving
You may not have taken any alcohol, which means your BAC will likely be at 0.00 percent. But if you are found to have drugs in your system while you’re behind the wheel, you could be arrested for drugged driving and charged with a DUID or driving under the influence of drugs.
It’s important to note that drugged driving doesn’t just cover hard drugs like cocaine and crystal meth. Prescription drugs like opioid painkillers and benzodiazepines could also get you in trouble since they do have side effects like blurred vision and drowsiness, both of which could affect your ability to drive safely.
You should also keep in mind that in several states, showing police your doctor’s actual written prescription will not bail you out, as they have laws that don’t accept legal entitlement to use a drug as a legal defense.
The lower BAC limit in Utah
Until December 2018, the legal BAC limit in all states was at 0.08 percent. Since then, the State of Utah has claimed the distinction of having the lowest legal BAC limit in the entire country, which stands at 0.05 percent. That means a BAC of 0.07 down to 0.05 won’t save you there.
Prosecutors can argue you were over the limit while driving
Prosecutors will have to prove impairment to convict you of a DUI, which can be a tricky thing to do even for experienced ones, especially if your BAC is way below 0.08 percent.
If your BAC is at 0.07 percent or anything just slightly below 0.08, however, then a clever and determined prosecutor can argue in court that your BAC was actually at 0.08 while you were driving. It just so happened that by the time you were stopped and made to take a breathalyzer test, enough time had already passed for your BAC to fall slightly below the legal limit.
The way things stand, the best way to avoid getting arrested and prosecuted for DUI or DUID remains not drinking alcohol or taking any drugs—even legally prescribed ones—before getting behind the wheel and driving away.
However, should you find yourself facing drunk driving or drugged driving charges anyway, your best chance of beating them or at least getting the best possible result is to engage the services of an experienced DUI lawyer.
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