Anyone whose been out in Tucson on a weekend night knows that law enforcement are on the lookout for drunk drivers and that the penalties are steep.
With roughly 1 million DUI arrests, 10,000 deaths and $44 billion in economic damage each year, WalletHub, a personal-finance website, conducted an in-depth study on the strictest and most lenient states when it comes to DUIs.
WalletHub compared penalties in each of the states across 15 metrics, including fines, minimum jail time and "ignition interlock device" requirements. Using a point system for each category, all states were given a total score, with Arizona coming it first at 84 percent.
Here's where Arizona placed in several categories, along with some of the penalties drivers face:
- 1st for minimum jail time on a first DUI offense (one day)
- 3rd for minimum jail time on a second DUI offense (90 days)
- 21st for how long an old DUI factors into penalties (seven years)
- 9th for MVD license suspension (90 days)
- 3rd for minimum fines on a first offense ($750)
- 3rd for minimum fines on a second offense ($1,750)
- 14th for average insurance rate increase following a DUI (37 percent)
Check out the full report here and see where other state rank against ours.
