Presence Tests State Law Chart for Blood Alcohol Content and Level

A person's blood alcohol content (sometimes called blood alcohol concentration and commonly referred to as "BAC") is a common metric used by law and medicine to determine alcohol intoxication. BAC is expressed as a percentage of alcohol found in the bloodstream. A 0.08% reading means that one eighth of one percent of a person's blood is composed of alcohol. Penalties for a DUI or DWI offense vary and also become more severe when a driver is a repeat offender.

Understanding Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) and Blood Alcohol Levels (BAL)


A person stopped under suspicion for drunk driving may refuse to take a sobriety or chemical test. If you volunteer to do so, each state has certain minimal levels for which a drunk driving offense is presumed by the result. For example, if the blood alcohol level of a driver in New York is 0.08 or above, the driver is presumed to be intoxicated and driving while impaired. While the BAC is generally 0.08% or higher for drivers who are of the legal drinking age, there are zero tolerance laws for drivers below the legal drinking age which reduce the required BAC to zero or near zero.

Implied Consent and Administrative License Revocation (ALR)


If a person refuses to take a sobriety test, most states allow an officer to make an arrest and immediately seize the driver's vehicle and results in the automatic suspension of the operator's driver's license. This occurs even if the driver is later shown not to have been guilty of a DUI or DWI offense. This is because the refusal to submit to the test raises a presumption of guilt (what does the driver have to hide by taking a test?)

Most states that have ALR laws also recognize the "implied consent" of every driver to a test of breath, blood or urine when requested by a law enforcement official if suspected of drunk driving. The concept is that driving an automobile is a privilege to use the public roadways and, in order to ensure public safety, every driver consents to reasonable safety measures.

BAC-BAL / Implied Consent, ALR Suspension State Laws Chart

StatePer Se BACImplied Consent LawFirst ALR Suspension
Alabama0.08Yes90 days
Alaska0.08Yes90 days
Arizona0.08Yes90 days
Arkansas0.08Yes120 days
California0.08Yes4 months
Colorado0.08Yes3 months
Connecticut0.08Yes90 days
Delaware0.08Yes3 months
District of Columbia0.08Yes2-90 days
Florida0.08Yes6 months
Georgia0.08Yes1 year
Hawaii0.08Yes3 months
Idaho0.08Yes90 days
Illinois0.08Yes3 months
Indiana0.08Yes180 days
Iowa0.08Yes180 days
Kansas0.08Yes30 days
Kentucky0.08Yesno
Louisiana0.08Yes90 days
Maine0.08Yes90 days
Maryland0.08Yes45 days
Massachusetts0.08Yes90 days
Michigan0.08Yesno
DUI & DWI Law
License Revocation
About author
Michael Wechsler
Michael M. Wechsler is an experienced attorney, founder of TheLaw.com, A. Research Scholar at Columbia Business School and of-counsel to Kaplan, Williams & Graffeo, LLC. He was also an SVP and chief Internet strategist at Zedge.net and legal consultant at Kroll Ontrack, a leading service e-discovery and computer forensics service provider.

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