There are a lot of great reasons to live in Arizona. While the sizzling hot weather and unlimited amounts of sunshine are appealing, the amount of drunk drivers the state has is not. Arizona has been well known a state with a serious drunk driving problem, and they’ve chosen to hit that issue head on with some of the strictest driving under the influence (DUI) penalties in the entire country.
The state is so strict on DUI that WalletHub just put it at the top of the list of states that crackdown on drunk drivers. Here are just a few reasons why Arizona has received that designation:
Ignition interlocks for all offenders
When it comes to ignition interlocks, Arizona is a trendsetter. They’ve had an all offender ignition interlock law on the books since 2007, and that means anyone who’s arrested in the state with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over .08 will be required to drive with an ignition interlock for one year.
Arizona has Super Extreme DUI penalties
Anyone charged with Super Extreme DUI in Arizona is going to be facing super extreme penalties. To receive a Super Extreme DUI charge you must have a BAC of .200 and above, and you’ll be required to drive with an ignition interlock for a minimum of one and a half years and you’ll go to jail for a minimum of 45 days.
There’s no question that Arizona lawmakers are trying to create laws that decrease drunk driving, and with thousands of DUI arrests every year, Arizona law enforcement are using these laws to crack down on all offenders.
Arizona is definitely a state where you wouldn’t want to be arrested for DUI, and although people continue to make the choice to get behind the wheel drunk, with these types of penalties they really aren’t going to want to become repeat offenders.