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North Carolina DUI Information

"Per Se" BAC Level: 0.8
"Zero Tolerance" BAC Level: 0.0
Enhanced Penalty BAC Level:.16
"Implied Consent" Law: yes

Administrative License Suspension/Revocation (1st/2nd/3rd Offense) :60d/ 60d/ 90d
Mandatory Alcohol Education and Treatment/Assessment: Both - in limited circumstances
Vehicle Confiscation Possible?: 4th offense
Ignition Interlock Device Possible?: Yes


North Carolina DWI law, for purposes of the traditional driving while impaired charge, relates to "appreciable impairment" while driving. This count does not depend on a particular blood alcohol level, such as North Carolina’s per se law, which relates to a blood or breath alcohol level of .08% or higher. The prosecutor will attempt to prove the traditional North Carolina DWI charge by demonstrating appreciable impairment through the suspect’s driving pattern, their physical appearance, their performance on field sobriety tests, and the chemical test results.

North Carolina DWI law for the "per se" charge doesn’t care about how the individual was driving, how they appeared, how well or poorly they did on field sobriety tests, or anything else other than the chemical test results. For purposes of the North Carolina per se laws, the primary issue relates to blood or breath alcohol levels of .08% or higher. Current North Carolina law forbids the use of the roadside breath test for other than probable cause to arrest someone for drunk driving; this means that the roadside tests are not to be used to establish impairment or violation of the per se law. However, other states, such as California, are now allowing these roadside test results into evidence.

North Carolina drunk driving laws are some of the toughest in the country. Recent amendments to North Carolina DWI laws include laws that:

• Strengthens the open container law to prohibit anyone in motor vehicle from having open containers of beer or wine while in a public vehicular area.
• Strengthens the ignition-interlock requirement so that an offender will be required to have the alcohol-sensing device installed not just in his or her primary vehicle, but all vehicle registered in their name.
• Establishes a blood alcohol content of 0.04 for those who have been convicted of a DWI and have had thier license reinstated.
• Establishes a blood alcohol content of 0.00 for those who have been convicted of a second DWI and have had their license reinstated.
• Requires those who are convicted of having a blood alcohol level of .16 or greater to use an ignition interlock system in their vehicles before their license is restored.

In addition, North Carolina can seize the vehicle of a driver whose license is revoked by another state, if the revocation is for an offense that is "substantially" similar to one -- if committed in North Carolina -- would make the vehicle subject to seizure. This would apply to a DWI violation charged to an out-of-state driver whose license has been revoked for a previous DWI.

North Carolina DWI suspects do have the right to refuse chemical testing of their blood or breath; however, evidence of that refusal is admissible against the DWI arrestee in court. North Carolina DWI law does require the police to assist the suspect in obtaining independent tests if the person is still in police custody. This means that the driver is to be allowed access to a phone to arrange the independent test.

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