Important Alcohol Driving Facts

This Driving under the influence (DUI)driving while intoxicated (DWI) drunk (en) driving operating under the influence or said as drinking and driving or impaired driving is the crime of driving a motor vehicle with blood levels of alcohol in excess the level of a legal limit Blood Alcohol Content or BAC. Some of the similar regulations cover driving or operating certain types of machinery while affected by drinking alcohol or taking other drugs including but not limited to prescription drugs. This is a criminal offense in most of the nations. Convictions all do not necessarily to involve actual driving of the vehicle.

In most jurisdictions system a quantitative measurement such as blood alcohol content (BAC) in excess of a specific threshold defines the offense with no need to prove that impairment or intoxication. In some of the jurisdictions there is an aggravated category of such type of offense at a higher BAC level. In most of the countries anyone who is convicted of injuring or killing someone while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can be heavily fined as in France in addition to being given a lengthy prison sentence. Many of the employers or the occupations have their own rules and BAC limits for example the United States Federal Railroad Administration has a limit for train crews. Certain large corporations have their own rules for examplethe Union Pacific Railroad has their own BAC limit of ** that if violated during a random test or a for cause test, for example after a traffic accident can result in termination of employment with no chance of future re-hire to all of them. Some jurisdictions have multiple levels of BAC for different categories of drivers for example the state of California has a general 0.08% BAC limit a lower limit for the commercial operators and a limit of drivers who are under 21 or on the probation for the previous DUI offenses.

Many of the states in the U.S. and the Federal government of Canada have adopted truth in sentencing laws that enforce strict guidelines on sentencing differing from previous practice where prison time was reduced or suspended after sentencing and had been issued. Some of the jurisdictions have judicial guidelines requiring a mandatory minimum sentence. DUI convictions can result in some states of multi-year jail terms and other penalties ranging from expensive fees to forfeiture of one's license plates and vehicle. Some jurisdictions require that the drivers convicted of DUI offenses use special license plates that are easily distinguishable from regular plates. These kinds of plates are known in popular parlance as "party plates" or "whiskey plates".