One number, several lines
Nearly every state sets the adult per se limit at a blood alcohol concentration of .08, and Utah sets it lower. Commercial drivers face a stricter federal standard while operating a commercial vehicle, and drivers under 21 face lower thresholds as well. New York adds layers on both sides of the adult line: a lower reading can support a charge of driving while ability impaired, and a much higher reading can support an aggravated charge. Those distinctions shape the level of the charge and the license consequences that follow. A reading is also only as reliable as the device, the sample, and the procedure that produced it.
Charged without a number, or below it
Impairment can be charged with no test result at all, for example after a refusal, and it can be charged when the reading falls below the limit if officers describe signs of impairment. Drug cases work differently: New York has no per se number for drugs, and many states take the same approach, so those cases rest on observations, a drug recognition evaluation, and lab work. Timing matters too, because a test taken some time after driving may not reflect the level while you were behind the wheel. Absorption, the gap between the stop and the test, and how the instrument was maintained are where legal limits most often become contestable.
Reviewing your result with us
If your paperwork lists a number, bring it, along with any printout and the times of the stop and the test if you know them. Tell us what you ate and drank and over what stretch of the evening, and mention medical conditions such as reflux or diabetes, which sometimes come up in breath testing cases. We request the maintenance and calibration records for the instrument and the operator's certification. In a first consultation we explain which charge the number supports, which license consequences it triggers, and what in the record is worth testing. We do not predict what a court will make of the reading; we explain what the evidence shows.
