DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF ALCOHOL OR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

A person shall not drive, operate or be in actual physical control of the movement of any vehicle:

• while under the influence of alcohol to a degree which renders the person incapable of safe driving;

• while under the influence of any controlled substance to a degree which renders the person of incapable of safe driving;

• while under the combined influence of alcohol and any controlled substance to a degree which renders the person incapable of safe driving; or

  while the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of the person is 0.10% or greater;

• if the amount of alcohol by weight in the blood of the person is 0.10% or greater at the time of a chemical test of a sample of the person' breath, blood or urine

It is considered prima facie evidence if an adult has 0.10%, a minor had 0.02% or anyone operating a commercial vehicle had 0.04% or more by weight of alcohol in their blood at the time of driving, operating or being in actual physical control of the movement of said vehicle. For the purpose of this section, the chemical test of the sample of the person's breath, blood or urine shall be from a sample obtained within three hours after the person drove, operated or was in actual physical control of the vehicle.

PENALTIES

	FINES	JAIL TIME
1st Offense	$300 - $5,000	48 hours - 2 years
2nd Offense (within 7 years)	$300 - $5,000	30 days - 2 years
3rd Offense (within 7 years)	$300 - $10,000	90 days - 5 years
4th or Subsequent Offenses (within 7 years)	$300 - $10,000	1 year - 5 years

The operating privilege of any driver convicted of driving under the influence shall be suspended for 12 months.

In some cases, first time DUI offenders may be eligible for the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition (ARD) program. You are not eligible if you:

• had been convicted of DUI within the past 7 years,
• had seriously injured or killed someone as the result of a DUI crash, or
• had been charged at time of DUI with other specific serious vehicle violations.

In addition, the District Attorney may have other requirements that may disqualify you from ARD.

The ARD program consists of the following:
• 1 to 12 month license suspension
• Probation
• Attendance at Alcohol Highway Safety School and its costs
• CRN evaluation [Assessment by a qualified Alcohol Counselor that determines the need, if any, of individual alcohol counseling as part of any sentence or ARD program.]
• Court and administrative costs, and
• Treatment and other conditions that a judge may impose.

CHEMICAL TESTING TO DETERMINE
AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL OR CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE

Any person who drives, operates or is in actual physical control of the movement of a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania shall be deemed to have given consent to one or more chemical tests of breath, blood or urine for the purposes of determining the alcoholic content of blood or the presence of a controlled substance if a police officer has reasonable grounds to believe that person to have been driving, operating or in actual physical control of the movement of the motor vehicle: while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance or both; or which was involved in an accident in which the operator or passenger of any vehicle involved or a pedestrian required treatment at a medical facility or was killed.