DUI laws in Vermont are meant to discourage people from driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. While the penalties for first-time drunk driving are severe, they increase with every offense thereafter.
DUI laws in Vermont include up to two years in jail for a first-time drunk driver. There will be an eighteen-month suspension of your driver’s license. You will be required to perform more than 200 hours of community service, or face imprisonment. The DUI laws in Vermont for first-time offenders are also costly. You will receive a fine of up to $1500. In addition to the basic fine, surcharges will be more than $160.
If you are convicted of DUI, your license will not be reinstated until you have completed a rehabilitation program focusing on alcohol and driving. You will be required to pay for this program yourself. If your DUI conviction shows you operated your vehicle with a blood alcohol level of more than .15, the court can require you to install an ignition interlock device in your vehicles. Second DUI offenses make the device mandatory.
A second offense will result in losing your license immediately. It will remain suspended for eighteen months. The fine can be increased to $1500. You can also be incarcerated for up to two years.
Vermont DUI laws include implied consent. When a police officer asks you to take a DUI test, you will automatically lose your driver’s license for six months if you do not comply.
A third offense takes DUI from a misdemeanor to a felony. The DUI laws in Vermont allow a driver’s license to be revoked for the rest of his life. The driver can also lose his vehicle. In some cases, drivers can have their licenses reinstated after three years, if they are able to prove they have completely abstained from all alcohol and drug use, and completed a rehabilitation program. Reinstatement of a license under this provision will cost an additional $500.
Third offenses can result in either a fine, a prison term, or both. The maximum fine is $2500. Prison terms can be up to five years. The community service you must complete will be 400 hours or more.
In Vermont, an adult driver has passed the legal limit when his blood alcohol level reaches .08. If the driver is under twenty-one years of age, the limit is .02. Numerous factors affect blood alcohol levels and degrees of impairment. A person’s sex, age, size, and general physical condition are all factors which contribute to how the body processes alcohol. The most sensible way of looking at drinking and driving is any alcohol is too much when you are planning to operate a motor vehicle.