What will happen to you if you're pulled over for drunk driving? All states have "per se laws" that say it's a crime to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above 0.08. Typically, license suspension or revocation follows a conviction for drunk driving. In addition, some states impose an administrative license suspension, where licenses are taken before conviction when a driver fails or refuses to take a chemical test.

After a conviction, most states permit offenders to drive only if their vehicles have been equipped with ignition interlocks, which analyze a driver's breath and disable the ignition if alcohol is detected. Plus, many states force multiple offenders to forfeit the vehicles they were driving while impaired by alcohol.

State	Blood alcohol level defined as illegal	Administrative license suspension, 1st offense(1)	Restore driving privileges during suspension?(1),(2)	Do penalties include interlock/forfeiture?(3)
Alabama	0.08	90 days	no	no/no
Alaska	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes
Arizona	0.08	90 days	after 30 days	yes/yes
Arkansas	0.08	120 days	yes	yes/yes
California	0.08	4 months	after 30 days	yes/yes
Colorado	0.08	3 months	yes	yes/no
Connecticut	0.08	90 days	yes	yes/no
Delaware	0.08	3 months	no	yes/no
District of Columbia	0.08	2-90 days	yes	yes/no
Florida	0.08	6 months	after 30 days	yes/yes

1. Information pertains to drivers in violation of the BAC defined as illegal per se for all drivers, not the special BAC for young drivers.

2. Drivers usually must demonstrate special hardship to justify restoring privileges during suspension, and then privileges often are restricted.

3. A multiple offender's vehicle may be seized and disposed.

4. In New York, administrative license suspension lasts until prosecution is complete.

Source: Insurance Institute for Highway Safety