Here’s How North Carolina Ranks For Strictest DUI Laws In US

NORTH CAROLINA —The law firm Siegfried & Jensen recently published a comprehensive ranking of the strictest states for DUI laws and penalties. The report was based off information from the Governors Highway Safety Administration, National Council of State Legislatures, and the National Highway Safety Administration.

Siegfried & Jensen then scored each state based on 21 metrics, including DUI arrests, fatalities, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) lower threshold, and open container laws.

Our state ranks 30th overall in toughest DUI laws and penalties — just ahead of Rhode Island and just behind Vermont. North Carolina has four DUI-related fatalities per 100 thousand people, 410 DUI arrests per 100 thousand drivers, and a BAC increased penalty at 0.15 percent.

Here’s how North Carolina did across other major metrics:

• Injuries per 100k population: 37
• BAC threshold: 0.08 percent
• 1st DUI Jail Time: 1 day
• 1st DUI Fine: $200
• 1ST DUI License Suspension: 6 months
• Number of DUI’s a felony: 4
• Open Container Laws: yes
• Repeat Offender Laws: yes

Drunken driving is the No. 1 cause of death on U.S. roadways, with 300,000 incidents a day, 10,876 deaths a year, and 290.000 injuries every year, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, an organization fighting to end impaired driving across the country.

In 2018, Utah became the first state to reduce the legal blood-alcohol limit for drunken driving from .08 percent to .05 percent, according to the report. Utah also finished second overall in strictest DUI laws across the country.

Here are the top ten overall states:

1. Minnesota: 76.7
2. Utah: 69.4
3. Georgia: 69.3
4. Delaware: 64.7
5. Kansas: 64.4
6. New York: 64.3
7. Florida: 63.4
8. New Jersey: 62.4
9. Washington: 62.1
10. Nebraska: 61.6

South Dakota ranked as the weakest state in the U.S. for DUI laws and penalties — with Wyoming, New Mexico, North Dakota, and Maryland rounding out the bottom five.