We have all seen rankings of different states in various categories, such as safest, most business-friendly, most scenic, and so on. We recently saw a ranking of states that are toughest on DUI.
Not surprisingly, Arizona was ranked at the very top by Drive Safely, an online driver’s education course. The Grand Canyon State is ranked as the “toughest on first-time offenders.”
The organization notes that we were “the first state to implement mandatory interlock device installation for a first offense” and that more than a dozen states have followed our lead. The article notes that Arizona requires that all first offenders have ignition interlock devices installed in their vehicles – at their expense – for a full 12 months.
Their conclusion is that “Arizona tops the charts as the state with the toughest DUI consequences on first-time offenders.”
It should be noted that the article goes on to state that Arizona piles on other penalties as well, including a $250 fine and that the interlock device installation can add another $200 and that monthly maintenance expenses are up to $100.
Plus, your driver’s license can be suspended for up to 360 days for a first DUI offense and you can be sentenced to spend up to 10 days in jail, too.
It is also important to remember that the legal threshold here is a BAC (blood alcohol content) of .08 percent, though it is even lower for a commercial vehicle driver (.04 percent) and that it goes all the way down to 0.00 percent for drivers who are under 21 years old.
If you have been charged with DUI anywhere in the Valley of the Sun, contact the Scottsdale office of the Rosenstein Law Group.
