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Table 2.1 summarizes each state's alcohol-impaired laws in effect at the time the study began in fall 2000. The table summarizes laws pertaining to a first-time "standard" alcohol-impaired driving offense, that is, an offense that involves a person 21 years or older and that does not carry enhanced penalties due to circumstances such as the presence of an underage passenger or an injury-producing crash. The table also summarizes the statutory penalties for driving with a suspended or revoked license due to an alcohol-impaired driving offense. There are some important similarities in the alcohol-impaired driving
laws of Wisconsin and New Jersey. The illegal per se BAC limit in both
states is .10. In both states an offense is considered the first offense
if no other alcohol-impaired driving conviction occurred within the
past 10 years. Also in both states, all first-time offenders must attend
an alcohol/drug education class and undergo an assessment for potential
problems with alcohol dependency. However, the states' alcohol-impaired
driving laws differ in many other important respects, including the
administrative and court-imposed license sanctions for alcohol-impaired
driving and the penalties for driving while suspended or revoked based
on an alcohol-impaired driving offense. Some of these differences are
highlighted below.
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