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0.05: The legal limit of the future?

by | Mar 30, 2017 | DUI/DWI Charges, Firm News |

In recent times, 0.08 has been the dominant legal limit when it comes to DUI laws in the United States. It is the current legal limit here in Minnesota. Might the future, however, see a lower legal limit become dominant in America?

It appears that the U.S. will soon be getting its first state with a 0.05 blood alcohol limit. This state is Utah. Last week, Utah’s governor signed a bill that will lower the state’s legal limit from 0.08 to 0.05. This law is set to go into effect on Dec. 30, 2018. As a note, there is a chance this law will undergo a fair amount of modifications between now and its effective date. It will be interesting to see what this law ends up looking like by the time it takes effect.

Utah was also the first state to have a 0.08 limit. One wonders if 0.05 will follow the same path 0.08 did as a limit and someday become widespread, or if Utah’s move will end up being an anomaly rather than a harbinger of a trend.

The specific DUI laws a state has, including its laws related to BAC level, can have very big impacts on the drivers in the state. It can impact what sorts of situations could lead to them facing DUI charges and what issues are key ones when they are facing such charges. Each state has its own DUI laws, and thus its own set of common complexities when it comes to DUI cases. So, when facing a DUI in Minnesota, having the defense representation of an attorney highly knowledgeable in the specifics of Minnesota DUI laws can be important.

Source: KSL, “Herbert signs bill lowering blood-alcohol limit to .05 percent,” Amy Joi O’Donoghue, March 23, 2017

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