Many people believe that they can avoid DUI charges if they simply don’t go over the legal limit. For the majority of drivers, this limit has been set at a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08%. So, if someone just had one drink and had a BAC of 0.03%, they may think that it’s fine for them to drive and that they won’t get a DUI. In fact, some drivers assume that they can get all the way up to 0.07% without risking arrest.
But this is not actually how it works. If the police can show that you were too impaired to be operating your vehicle safely, they can still arrest you on DUI charges. Even if you get a trial in front of a jury, they may convict you based on the other evidence of impairment. The legal limit is part of this process, but it is not the only thing that the authorities consider.
So why is there a legal limit?
The reason the legal limit exists is that courts now have a line that drivers can cross, allowing them to presume the driver was impaired.
For example, there was a case where a man blew a 0.07%, but he was given three field sobriety tests, which he failed. The case went to trial, and the court convicted him on drunk driving charges, even though he wasn’t over the limit.
But had the man been at 0.08% or higher, much of this may have been unnecessary. The court could presume that he was impaired even without the failed field sobriety test, leading to a conviction. Being under that limit doesn’t necessarily prevent conviction.
This is an important distinction to make and helps to show why people need to know what defense options they have when facing charges.
