When can police pull you over for drunk driving in Charlotte & NC? DUIs explained

Mary Ramsey
·4 min read
3

Drunk driving is a risky crime that can endanger yourself and others.

It’s a serious issue on North Carolina roads, especially in summer, state transportation officials say. Deadly crashes typically increase from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

“That’s when we start to see more people out on the roads,” Jen Thompson, communications officer for NCDOT, previously told The Charlotte Observer. “Because people are taking time off to go on summer vacations with their families, teen drivers are out of school, and they want to get experience behind the wheel as well.”

And in addition to the safety risks of drunk driving, there are also serious legal consequences for driving while inebriated under North Carolina law.

Here’s what to know about North Carolina’s DWI statute:

NC DWI laws

North Carolina law says, “It is illegal to drive a vehicle while noticeably impaired or with an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher,” per the state’s Department of Public Safety.

The legal limit is 0.04 if you’re driving a commercial motor vehicle, DPS adds.

You can also be charged with impaired driving, the state’s statute says, if you have “any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance … or its metabolites” in your blood or urine.

Per the statute, you can be charged when driving “any vehicle upon any highway, any street, or any public vehicular area” in the state.

North Carolina is “an implied consent state, which means that by driving a vehicle in North Carolina, you have already consented to a test of your Blood Alcohol Content, or BAC, if a police officer has reasonable suspicion that you are under the influence of drugs or alcohol,” the Kitty Hawk North Carolina-based Sharp, Graham, Baker & Varnell law firm advises.

State statute says that “under the implied-consent law, you can refuse any test, but your drivers license will be revoked for one year and could be revoked for a longer period of time under certain circumstances, and an officer can compel you to be tested under other laws.”

You “may call an attorney for advice and select a witness to view the testing procedures remaining after the witness arrives,” state statute says.

What is the penalty for a DWI in NC?

There are five levels of misdemeanor DWI in North Carolina, per the Department of Public Safety, “Level I being the most serious and Level V the least.”

Level V charges are “punishable by a fine up to $200 and a minimum jail sentence of 24 hours and a maximum of 60 days, and “a judge can suspend the sentence but upon completion that the driver spends 24 hours in jail, perform 24 hours of community service or not operate a vehicle for 30 days.”

A Level IV charge is “punishable by a fine up to $500 and a minimum jail sentence of 48 hours and a maximum of 120 days, and “a judge can suspend the sentence but upon completion that the driver spends 48 hours in jail, perform 48 hours of community service or not operate a vehicle for 60 days.”

And a Level III charge is “punishable by a fine up to $1,000 and a minimum jail sentence of 72 hours and a maximum of six months, and “a judge can suspend the sentence only upon completion that the driver spends at least 72 hours in jail, perform 72 hours of community service or not operate a vehicle for 90 days.”

Those charged with Level II or Level I DWI “are repeat offenders, persons whose license are revoked, impaired drivers, impaired drivers who are transporting young children and impaired drivers who hurt someone in a crash.”

A Level II charge is “punishable by a fine up to $2,000 and a minimum jail sentence of seven days and a maximum of one year,” and a Level I charge is “punishable by a fine up to $4,000 and a minimum jail sentence of 30 days and a maximum of two years.”

A judge can’t suspend the minimum sentence if you’re charged with a Level II or I misdemeanor.

“DWI becomes a more severe felony,” DPS says when a driver has “had four prior DWI convictions within the past ten years.”

“The Habitual DWI statute mandates a minimum active jail term of one year,” and “offenders must also go through a substance abuse program while in jail or as a condition of parole.”