Connecticut Third Strictest on DUI Offenses, New Study Shows

Editor’s note: We published this story earlier in the week, but here it is again in case you missed it.

Written by BRIAN MCCREADY (Patch Staff)

Each year 10,000 Americans die as a result of people driving while impaired by alcohol.

A new study by WalletHub examined the “Strictest and Most Lenient States on DUI” and Connecticut ranked No. 3 as the strictest.

Only Arizona and Alaska are stricter, while the most lenient states for DUI are South Dakota, District of Columbia, Pennsylvania, North Dakota, and Maryland.

In 2012, of all the motor vehicle fatalities, 31 percent were a result of drivers being impaired by alcohol, the study notes.

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It’s estimated that impaired driving costs the U.S. economy $60 billion annually, the report concludes. Despite that staggering number, the number of drunk driving fatalities has declined 52 percent from 1982 to 2013.

Tougher DUI laws is one of the reasons the numbers have declined, and on July 1, Connecticut became the latest state requiring ignition interlock devices on vehicles for drivers whose licenses were suspended by the Department of Motor Vehicles.

The device requires an operator to blow a breath sample into a tube. The vehicle won’t start if the test comes back with a blood alcohol content of .025 or above. It will also require giving random samples while operating a motor vehicle.

Some other interesting findings in Wallet Hub’s study, Arizona has the longest minimum jail time for first time offenders at 10 days, while West Virginia has the longest sentence for second time offenders at 180 days.

On average, if you are charged with DUI, you can expect to have your license immediately suspended for three months.

Specifically, for Connecticut, a first-time DUI offense requires a minimum two days in jail, a second-time offense mandates a 120-day jail term, and it’s considered a felony after the third offense.

A DUI offense will impact your criminal record for 10 years in Connecticut, and you’ll have your license suspended for three months.

By way of comparison, New York was ranked No. 30 and Massachusetts was No. 23 when it comes to the most strictest states regarding impaired driving.

Read the full WalletHub report here.