Our online drivers education course at GA Driver Safety.Org covers every aspect of safe driving on the roads in Georgia, including the laws about drinking and driving. Being caught drinking and driving has some serious consequences, and the simplest piece of advice we can give is, if you have had a drink, just don’t drive. The minimum legal age for drinking in the State of Georgia is 18, but that doesn’t mean that if you are over 18 and have had a drink, you are OK to drive.
Driving and Drinking Do Not Mix in Georgia (At Any Age)
In fact, if you are under 21 you will be charged with DUI if your BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) is over 0.02%. Over 21, the limit is 0.08%. However, for drivers of commercial vehicles it is 0.04%.
Your weight comes into consideration, but if you weigh less than 180 lbs, you are probably not safe having even one 5 fl oz glass of wine, or 12 fl oz glass of beer, if you are under 21. The reason that the limit is so low is because statistics show that drivers under the age of 21 are four times as likely to be involved in road accidents as those over that age.
Certainly, alcohol affects different people in different ways, but what it does do is slow down your reaction times. This is why Georgia driving laws keep the limits very low. The penalties for DUI are severe, and increase if you are found guilty more than once. Simply for a first offense you can have your license suspended for up to one year, be jailed for between 24 hours and one year, and be fined from $300 to $1,000.
Georgia Penalties for Drunk Driving
For a second offense, your license will be suspended for three years, you will be jailed from three days to a year, and be fined $600 to $1,000. The court may also order that you have an ignition interlock device (IID) fitted to your vehicle.
In the case of a third offense, your license will be suspended for five years, the jail term is 15 days to one year, the fine is from $1,000 to $5,000, and you will be required to have an IID fitted to your vehicle.
For a fourth offense, your license will be suspended indefinitely, you will be jailed for between one and five years, and fined $1,000 to $5,000. You will also be required to have an IID fitted – that is, assuming you are ever allowed to drive again.
So you can see that the State of Georgia has a very low tolerance threshold when it comes to DUI.
We repeat our earlier advice: simply don’t do it. Learn more about drunk driving and penalties at the Georgia Department of Public Safety.
