| All 50 States have .08 as the blood alcohol | | | | guilty of their first Montana DUI (see below). There are |
| concentration (BAC) that constitutes drunk driving. But | | | | two events which will result in the immediate |
| even if your BAC is lower than .08, you can still be | | | | confiscation of your driver's license and the issuance |
| charged with a Montana DUI. That's because law | | | | of a temporary one: (1) The refusal to take a chemical |
| enforcement uses subjective observations like | | | | test; and (2) If you submit to a chemical test and the |
| bloodshot or watery eyes, field sobriety tests, the odor | | | | BAC shows.08 or more. Law enforcement will not tell |
| of alcohol, or your loss of coordination to conclude that | | | | you this, but it is your right to call any of Montana's DUI |
| you're legally drunk, under the influence of drugs or | | | | defense attorneys who will provide you with DUI help |
| alcohol, and/or you're an unsafe driver. If this is true of | | | | and advice if you've been stopped. |
| your DUI, know that it is these subjective observations | | | | If this is your first DUI in Montana, and your BAC was |
| that are used by drunk driving attorneys as points of | | | | found to be between.04 and.08, you'll serve from one |
| contention during DUI trials. | | | | day to six months in jail, be charged a $300 to $1,000 |
| Almost all 50 States are implied consent States, which | | | | fine, and may be required to attend a chemical |
| means that, if you're driving in that State, you have | | | | dependency program. If your BAC was.08 or higher, in |
| already given your implied consent to submit to BAC | | | | addition to the above, your license will be suspended |
| chemical tests, which includes a test of your blood, | | | | for six months. But, if you were transporting a person |
| breath, or urine. But the State of Montana goes even | | | | under the age of 16, the amount of the DUI fines and |
| further; not only have you given your implied consent | | | | jail time might be doubled. |
| for a BAC test, you've also given your implied consent | | | | Some other Montana laws you should be aware of |
| for a Preliminary Alcohol Screening (PAS) Test to | | | | are the Driver's License Compact Agreement. If you |
| estimate your alcohol concentration. If you refuse to | | | | are an out-of-state driver, any DUI in Montana will be |
| take either the BAC or the PAS test, you have a | | | | reported to your home State, which will more than |
| consciousness of guilt which is not only admissible in | | | | likely take action to suspend your driver's license. And |
| court, but can also result in your license being | | | | Montana also has a five-year purge period, meaning |
| suspended for up to one year. Recent statistics have | | | | that any DUI offense committed within five years of a |
| shown that 100% of the people who refused a BAC | | | | previous offense can increase the DUI penalty of your |
| test had their licenses suspended or revoked, which is | | | | current DUI court case. |
| a worse penalty than that of DUI offenders found | | | | |