Blood Alcohol Content - Legal Limits

Legal Limits

For purposes of law enforcement, blood alcohol content is used to define intoxication and provides a rough measure of impairment. Although the degree of impairment may vary among individuals with the same blood alcohol content, it can be measured objectively and is therefore legally useful and difficult to contest in court. Most countries disallow operation of motor vehicles and heavy machinery above prescribed levels of blood alcohol content. Operation of boats and aircraft are also regulated.

The alcohol level at which a person is considered to be legally impaired varies by country. The list below gives limits by country. These are typically blood alcohol content limits for the operation of a vehicle. In the United States, the legal limit can vary by state but for all states as of 2011 is 0.08% blood alcohol content as measured by a breath device, urinalysis or blood test. This legal limit is down from 0.15% just a few decades previously.

Zero effective tolerance

It is illegal to have any measurable alcohol in the blood while driving in these countries. Most jurisdictions have a tolerance slightly higher than zero to account for false positives and naturally occurring alcohol in the body.

• Australia For L or P Plates
• Bangladesh
• Brazil
• Brunei
• Canada—new drivers undergoing graduated licensing in Ontario or British Columbia, drivers under the age of 22 in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Northwest Territories, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Saskatchewan, drivers under the age of 21 in Quebec.
• Croatia—professional drivers, driving instructors and drivers of the vehicle categories C1, C1+E, C, C+E, D, D+E and H; the limit for other drivers is 0.50 mg/g, but they do get an additional separate fine if they cause an accident while having a blood alcohol level between 0 and 0,50 mg/g
• Czech Republic
• Estonia
• Fiji
• Hungary
• Israel
• New Zealand—drivers under the age of 20
• Oman
• Pakistan
• Paraguay
• Romania (beyond 0.08% drivers will not only receive a fine and have their license suspended, the offense will also be added to their criminal records.)
• Russia
• Saudi Arabia
• Slovakia
• United Arab Emirates
• United States—drivers under the age of 21

0.02%

• China
• Netherlands (for drivers in their first five years after gaining a driving license)
• Norway (road vehicles and sea vessels over 15 m)
• Poland
• Puerto Rico (for drivers 18–20 years old)
• Sweden

0.03%

• Belarus
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Chile
• India (note: In the state of Kerala, a policy of zero tolerance has developed.)
• Serbia
• Japan
• Uruguay (0.00% for truck/taxi/bus drivers)

0.04%

• Lithuania (0.02% for drivers in their first two years after gaining a driving license)

0.05%

• Argentina (0.02% for motorbikes, 0.00% for truck/taxi/bus drivers)
• Australia (0.00% for Australian Capital Territory learner, probationary and convicted DUI drivers (changed down from 0.02% on December 1, 2010), 0.02% for truck/bus/taxi, 0.00% for learner drivers, provisional/probationary drivers (regardless of age), truck and bus drivers, driving instructors and DUI drivers in all other states)
• Austria
• Belgium
• Bulgaria
• Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick — provincial offence
• Costa Rica
• Denmark
• Finland
• France (0.025% for bus drivers)
• Germany (0.00% for learner drivers, all drivers 18–21 and newly licensed drivers of any age for first two years of licence; also, if the BAC exceeds 0.03%, driving is illegal if the driver is showing changes in behavior ("Relative Fahruntüchtigkeit"))
• Greece
• Hong Kong
• Iceland
• Ireland (0.02% for learner drivers and professional drivers)
• Italy (0.00% for drivers in their first three years after gaining a driving license)
• Latvia (0.02% for drivers in their first two years after gaining a driving license)
• Luxembourg
• Macedonia (0.00% for drivers in their first two years after gaining a driving license)
• Netherlands (0.02% for drivers in their first five years after gaining a driving license)
• Peru
• Philippines
• Portugal
• Slovenia (0.00% for drivers in their first two years after gaining a drivers licence, drivers under 21 and common drivers, such as buses, trucks...)
• South Africa
• Spain (0.03% for drivers in their first two years after gaining a driving license and common carriers, such as buses, trucks...)
• Switzerland
• Thailand
• Taiwan
• Turkey

0.06%

• The Bahamas

0.08%

• Canada—criminal offence
• England and Wales (0.02% for operators of fixed-wing aircraft; both countries share the same law regarding motoring alcohol limits.)
• Malaysia
• Malta
• Mexico
• New Zealand (0.00% for drivers under 20)
• Norway (legal limit for sea vessels under 15 m)
• Northern Ireland (The government of Northern Ireland intends to reduce the general limit to 0.05%.)
• Puerto Rico (for drivers 21 years and older)
• Scotland (The Scottish Government intends to reduce the limit to 0.05%.)
• Singapore
• United States (The U.S. Constitution reserves to the individual states the power to regulate DUI penalties; while all impose penalties for driving with a BAC greater than 0.08, some, such as Colorado, impose criminal penalties above 0.05.)

Drivers under 21 (the most common U.S. legal drinking age), however, are held to stricter standards under zero tolerance laws. Adopted in varying forms in all states, these laws hold the driver to much lower blood alcohol content levels for criminal and/or license suspension purposes, commonly 0.01% to 0.05%. Many states have statutory regulations regarding driving while "under the influence" of an intoxicant and a different law for driving beyond the legal blood alcohol concentration.

A large number of laws apply from Federal regulatory bodies, states, counties, and cities. For further information on U.S. laws restrictions on alcohol sales, see Alcohol laws of the United States by state. Federal Aviation Administration: 0.01% for operators of common carriers, such as buses, for pilots 0.019% to fly, .039 without loss of medical (no fly until .019 or below), .04 permanent revocation of license for pilots, no alcohol within 8 hours per Federal Aviation Regulations Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration: 0.04% for drivers driving a commercial vehicle which requires a commercial driver's license, otherwise 0.08%.

Blood alcohol content measures and proxies (such as breath PPM and blood alcohol content measured as mass/volume) are commonly coded into the law to provide prima facie cases (much like speed limits). A driver measured to be over the allowed blood alcohol content limit has automatic penalties. But even below those levels, drivers can have civil liability and other criminal guilt. For example, in some state statutes (for example Arizona), any driving impairment to any degree caused by alcohol consumption can be a civil or criminal offense in addition to other offenses at higher blood alcohol content levels.

0.1%

• Cayman Islands
• Legally drunk in some jurisdictions