Researcher: JP Page 1 3/28/23
OLR Bill Analysis
sSB 1082
AN ACT IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REGARDING A REDUCTION
IN BLOOD ALCOHOL LIMITS FOR IMPAIRED DRIVING AND
BOATING.
SUMMARY
This bill lowers the general blood alcohol content (BAC) per se limit
for impaired driving and boating from 0.08% to 0.05%. By law, people
who drive a motor vehicle or operate a boat while their BAC exceeds the
per se limit are considered to be driving or boating with an “elevated
BAC,” which is illegal in and of itself, regardless of a person’s
impairment. The limit applies to both (1) criminal driving under the
influence (DUI) and impaired boating statutes and (2) administrative
license suspension for DUI (referred to as “administrative per se”) and
impaired boating.
By law, the general per se limit applies in most cases, but a lower limit
applies to people who are (1) driving a commercial vehicle (0.04%) or (2)
driving or operating a boat under age 21. The limits apply to people
operating (1) motor vehicles anywhere, including their own property;
(2) snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles; and (3) boating vessels that are
underway or aground and are not moored, anchored, or docked.
The bill also makes numerous technical and conforming changes,
such as updating BAC references in the insurance statutes.
EFFECTIVE DATE: January 2, 2024
BACKGROUND
BAC Testing and Administrative License Suspension
The DUI law prohibits driving a motor vehicle (1) while under the
influence of alcohol or drugs (or both) or (2) with an elevated BAC. A 2023SB-01082-R000250-BA.DOCX
Researcher: JP Page 2 3/28/23
police officer may measure a driver’s BAC by testing the driver’s blood,
breath, or urine. Anyone who drives implicitly consents to this testing.
Parents or guardians are also considered to have given their consent if
the driver is a minor. When arresting someone for DUI and before
administering the test, the police officer must give the driver a chance
to call a lawyer and inform the driver:
1. of his or her constitutional rights,
2. that his or her license will be suspended if they refuse to take the
test or if the test results indicate an elevated BAC, and
3. that evidence of a refusal may be used against him or her in a
criminal prosecution.
The law requires an administrative license suspension process for
drivers suspected of impairment who refuse to submit to the test or
whose test results indicate an elevated BAC. This process runs parallel
to the criminal process for DUI charges. People who are found, after a
DMV hearing, to have driven with an elevated BAC face a 45-day license
suspension followed by a period of mandatory ignition interlock device
use (CGS § 14-227b(c)).
The law establishes a largely parallel process for the Department of
Energy and Environmental Protection to test a boater’s BAC and impose
administrative sanctions on boaters who operate vessels with an
elevated BAC or who refuse to submit to BAC testing (CGS § 15-140q).
COMMITTEE ACTION
Transportation Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 21 Nay 15 (03/10/2023)