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By: William C. Head, Board-Certified Atlanta DUI Lawyer, and Criminal Defense Attorney in GA Explains Legal BAC Limit in GA.
Most people who go out for dinner and drinks, and then drive, do not first check their impairment level with a BAC calculator over time. Many Georgians are consuming alcohol regularly and think they know how many drinks they can have and be able to stay under the Georgia blood alcohol limit when behind the wheel.
Over 9 out of 10 regular drinkers have not checked an alcohol chart to calculate their personal “drink” limit and be okay to drive. Most experienced drinkers just “wing it,” and judge whether to drive home just by how they feel. That “lack of a buzz” in no way solves the question of whether you are over the legal limit in Georgia.
Changes in the GA legal driving alcohol limit. Because the Georgia BAC limit has been lowered three times in the last 4 decades, to about half of what used to be allowed, you need to comply with staying under the legal blood alcohol level in Georgia. The old legal limit in GA dropped from 0.15 grams percent to 0.12, and 0.10 ten years later, before ending up being altered in 2001 to today’s 0.08 grams percent.
What Georgia DUI BAC level applies to me? To KNOW your Georgia alcohol driving limit, review the blood alcohol level chart below, or check a reliable online alcohol chart to calculate BAC based on time of drinking, to know their approximate blood alcohol level. When a police officer makes an arrest for DUI in Georgia, he or she will be demanding a post-arrest test pursuant to Georgia implied consent law.
What’s the legal alcohol limit in Georgia? This question can only be answered after checking the driver’s age and type of vehicle being driven. When you operate a vehicle after drinking, Georgia DUI laws contain three different legal limits on alcohol Georgia BAC numbers to be considered, for certain drivers being DUI per se in Georgia (over-the-legal-limit):
What is GA legal alcohol limit? BAC is an acronym for blood alcohol concentration or blood alcohol content. In the criminal law field, “legal BAC” refers to the quantitative amount of ethanol (alcohol) in the person’s bloodstream.
This “numerical reading” is used by law enforcement to determine if the person was operating a motor vehicle with an illegal BAC. This is the BAC meaning that is commonly referred to by crime laboratory testing in driving under the influence cases, whether collected on a breathalyzer legal limit device, or by a blood alcohol test.
If you have been arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Georgia, you may be wondering if there is a legal limit for drinking in your state.
The history of Georgia’s setting the “number” for our state’s BAC limit is unique in the USA. In a 50- year odyssey, the 0.15 BAC level was dropped by the GA legislative body to a BAC limit of 0.12, then to a 0.10 illegal BAC, and finally (after President Clinton used withholding of federal highway construction funds to accomplish national compliance with a 0.08 legal BAC) dropping the maximum, adult legal driving BAC to the current 0.08 grams percent for all of America.
In the last couple of years, Utah took an even more conservative step, lowering that state’s BAC level to 0.05 grams percent for adults. But, so far for 2021, the Georgia alcohol limit remains at the 0.08 grams % GA drinking limit.
Our three award-winning law firm attorneys in Atlanta have had an extensive breath alcohol test machine training to show how an Intoxilyzer result can be caused by factors other than alcohol in your bloodstream. Using a BAC calculator can help you avoid being charged with DUI in Georgia.
In Georgia, a 0.08 BAC or more constitutes a separate crime of DUI per se alcohol, which has different elements and “proof” requirements, at trial, from an impaired driving DUI charge. Drunken driving in Georgia is called DUI less safe, and DUI attorneys call being over the legal limit “per se DUI.”
Georgia now has both a DUI per se ALCOHOL law, under 40-6-391(a)(5), and a DUI per se MARIJUANA law under 40-6-391(a)(6). In either situation, the Prosecutor merely needs to prove to the jury the reliability of your forensic test (e.g., an Intoxilyzer 9000, for measuring the breathalyzer legal limit, or a GBI laboratory blood test for showing how much psychoactive weed was in your bloodstream).
Many people erroneously think that they can judge being “over the limit” simply by how they feel, before starting to drive home. DUI attorneys can tell you that this judgment error has produced between 1 million and 1.8 million annual drunk driving arrests over the last 25 consecutive years. It is better to use a BAC calculator to estimate whether you should risk driving while impaired.
If arrested for driving under the influence and being above your permissible legal blood alcohol level, you need a top DUI attorney. DUI-DWI lawyers are not all the same. Advanced training, a proven track record for case reductions or trial wins, and total command of breath alcohol testing, and blood testing are essential to building a winning record as a DUI defense lawyer.
A high BAC at the time of your DUI arrest can look hopeless, but our DUI law firm can help! Call Bubba Head or partners Cory Yager or Larry Kohn on our 24-hour lawyer number at 404-567-5515, or toll-free at 1-888-384-4323.
Our law group offers a FREE professional case assessment or referral to a DUI lawyer in your state. Ask about our attorney’s fee payment plans. Be certain to act within 30 days after arrest to protect your right to drive by either filing for (1) a DDS GA appeal or (2) seeking a 12-month ignition interlock device limited driving permit.
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Do You Need a Georgia DUI Attorney? If you were arrested for a DUI in Georgia and you wish to fight the charges, you need help from a qualified DUI attorney in Georgia. We are a firm of dedicated and experienced attorneys who are ready to represent you for DUI and Criminal Defense.
