Can I be arrested for DUI if I am under the legal limit?

The answer is, yes you can be arrested for driving while intoxicated if you are under the legal limit in Georgia. There is a presumption that the person is not impaired if the Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is under the .08 limit for drivers (persons age 21 or over) who are NOT operating a commercial driver/commercial motor vehicle (CMV). Drivers with a CMV are held to a stricter standard of only 0.04 grams percent. Blowing below the legal limit does not mean that you won’t get charged. You can be arrested and charged with DUI under Georgia’s DUI Less Safe Law. Some people are less safe at a lower level than others, so it is not a guarantee that you will not be charged with a DUI.

If I don’t blow or take a breathalyzer test, what happens?

As mentioned in the above paragraph, you can still be charged with Georgia’s DUI Less Safe law. As defined by the Georgia Code, DUI Less Safe means the person is too impaired to drive. That can be from driving under the influence from drinking alcohol, or DUI drugs, by being incapable of driving safely from any type of drug (illegal, prescribed, or over the counter). Evidence may not include an actual BAC number, but the State will attempt to prove DUI with other pieces of evidence. A good example, the State may bring forward evidence of bloodshot eyes, an odor of alcohol, open containers, and/or poor performance on field sobriety tests.

Georgia’s Law on Alcohol Content

In GA, you are Per Se impaired if your blood or breath test shows a result of 0.08 grams or more. There is no inference of impairment if your Blood Alcohol Content is less than 0.08 but more than 0.05 grams. This means it is up to the judge or the jury to consider whether or not you were actually a Less Safe driver or not.

A Blood Alcohol Content of even less than 0.04 grams can get you into court fighting for your freedom, life, driving privileges, and driver’s license suspension. In a scenario where the BAC was less than 0.04, Georgia law has a presumption that you were NOT impaired. The State can rebut this inference through other evidence in a trial. A different BAC applies in cases where the driver is under 21 years old. In that situation, an under 21 DUI ‘legal limit’ is 0.02 grams.

There is a small number of examples of how an attorney who specializes in DUI cases can begin to build Breathalyzer defenses for DUI breath test cases. Your case is not lost if you or a loved one has been arrested for impaired driving and took a breath test. The DUI attorneys listed at TeamDUI.com work to WIN or reduce your case and provide the best legal services near me. Contact TeamDUI.com at 1-844-TEAM-DUI (1-844-832-6384) for a FREE case evaluation with a DUI-DWI litigation lawyer today.