Virginia’s drunk driving statute is Va. Code § 18.2-266. DUI and DWI are the same offense here. The terms are used interchangeably, there is no separate lesser “DWI” charge, and whatever the rule is in the state you came from does not apply on this side of the line.

The statute reaches more than a number. § 18.2-266 makes it unlawful to drive or operate a motor vehicle:

• With a blood alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more, or
• While under the influence of alcohol, or
• While under the influence of any narcotic drug or other self-administered intoxicant, or
• Under the combined influence of alcohol and drugs, or
• With specified concentrations of certain drugs in your blood

A first offense is a Class 1 misdemeanor, the same class as reckless driving and assault and battery.

BAC measures the concentration of alcohol in your blood and is the most common evidence in a DUI case.

There is no single “legal limit,” and the claim that it is 0.08 everywhere is wrong twice over.

First, Virginia has several thresholds, not one:

Second, 0.08 is not the national figure. Utah’s limit has been 0.05 since 2018. If you are reading this while driving through several states, the number changes underneath you.

How it is measured in Virginia: breath or blood. Those are the only two tests Virginia’s implied consent law covers. Virginia does not use urine testing for DUI.

Yes, and this surprises people more than anything else about the statute.

0.08 is one route to a conviction, not the only one. § 18.2-266 separately prohibits driving while under the influence of alcohol, and that clause has no number attached. The Commonwealth can prove it with the officer’s observations: driving behavior, odor, speech, balance, the field sobriety tests, and what you said.

A breath test below 0.08 does not end the case. It removes the presumption. The Commonwealth can still proceed on the under-the-influence theory.

And below 0.05, the statute cuts the other way. Virginia law provides that a BAC of 0.05 or less creates a rebuttable presumption that the person was not under the influence of alcohol.

A Class 1 misdemeanor, carrying:

• Up to 12 months in jail and a fine up to $2,500
• A mandatory minimum fine of $250
• A mandatory one-year license revocation. A revocation, not a suspension. The license is gone and you apply for a new one after the period runs.
• A 7-day administrative suspension at the time of arrest, under § 46.2-391.2
• Mandatory ASAP enrollment
• Ignition interlock required for a restricted license
• A lasting criminal record

Mandatory jail based on BAC:

One enhancement that has nothing to do with your BAC or your record. Under § 18.2-270(D), a DUI committed while transporting a passenger 17 or younger carries an additional mandatory minimum 5 days in jail and an additional mandatory minimum $500 fine. A first offense with a child in the back seat is not a first-offense case.

Virginia has no DUI diversion program. There is no deferred disposition that makes this disappear on completion of a class. ASAP is not an alternative to a conviction. It is a requirement that follows one.

A second offense is still a Class 1 misdemeanor, and the mandatory minimums change the case entirely. Under § 18.2-270(B):

Within less than 5 years of the prior:

• Confinement of not less than one month, with 20 days as a mandatory minimum
• Mandatory minimum $500 fine
• Three-year license revocation, no restricted license until after one year

Within 5 to 10 years:

• Confinement of not less than one month, with 10 days as a mandatory minimum
• Mandatory minimum $500 fine
• Three-year license revocation, no restricted license until after four months

The BAC enhancement doubles on a second offense. Under § 18.2-270(B)(3):

And they stack. Under § 18.2-270(F), mandatory minimum punishments are cumulative, and mandatory terms of confinement are served consecutively.

Third offense within 10 years, § 18.2-270(C)(1):

• Class 6 felony
• Mandatory minimum 90 days, or six months if the three offenses fall within five years
• Mandatory minimum $1,000 fine
• Indefinite license revocation

Fourth or subsequent within 10 years: a mandatory minimum one year of imprisonment plus a $1,000 mandatory fine.

Any DUI after a prior felony DUI or DUI-related violent offense, § 18.2-270(C)(2): a person previously convicted of DUI manslaughter (§ 18.2-36.1), maiming while intoxicated (§ 18.2-51.4), or a felony violation of § 18.2-266 is guilty of a Class 6 felony on a subsequent DUI, with a mandatory minimum one year and a $1,000 fine.

Separate felonies:

• DUI involuntary manslaughter (§ 18.2-36.1): causing a death while driving under the influence. Up to 10 years. Aggravated involuntary manslaughter, where the conduct showed a reckless disregard for human life, carries up to 20.
• Maiming while intoxicated (§ 18.2-51.4): causing serious bodily injury resulting in permanent and significant physical impairment.

Yes. Understand exactly what it costs, and understand what implied consent actually covers, because this is stated backwards almost everywhere.

Implied consent is a post-arrest rule. The statute’s own title is “Implied consent to post-arrest testing.” Under § 18.2-268.2, a person who operates a motor vehicle on a highway in Virginia is deemed to have consented to a breath or blood test if he is arrested for a violation of § 18.2-266 within three hours of the alleged offense.

Read the conditions, because each one is a defense:

• There must be an arrest. Not a stop. An arrest.
• The arrest must be supported by probable cause. If it was not, the obligation to test does not attach.
• It must occur within three hours of the alleged offense.
• It covers breath and blood. Nothing else.

“By driving, you consented to alcohol testing” is not the rule. It is what the rule sounds like when the conditions are stripped out of it, and those conditions are where refusal charges are won.

What a refusal actually costs, under § 18.2-268.3:

• A first refusal is a civil offense, not a crime
• A 12-month license revocation
• No restricted license is available during it. None. This is the part everyone leaves out, and it is the whole point. A first DUI conviction with a test result gets you a restricted license with an interlock. A first refusal gets you twelve months of not driving.
• The revocation runs in addition to whatever the DUI case produces
• A second or subsequent refusal within 10 years is a criminal offense, with a longer revocation

Virginia only punishes an unreasonable refusal. The word is in the statute, and a reasonable factual basis for the refusal is a defense.

On refusal as evidence, the page you are probably reading elsewhere overstates it. The advice-of-rights form used in Virginia courts says a finding of unreasonable refusal may be admitted to explain the absence of a chemical test at trial, or for rebuttal, and states in terms that “this evidence will not be considered as evidence of your guilt.” Refusing does not hand the Commonwealth a confession. It hands you a twelve-month revocation.

These are voluntary, and this is the single most useful thing on this page.

Implied consent does not reach them. It attaches to the evidentiary breath or blood test after a lawful arrest. It does not attach to the tests that happen on the roadside before the arrest.

What is voluntary:

• Field sobriety tests. The walk-and-turn, the one-leg stand, the horizontal gaze nystagmus test.
• The preliminary breath test (PBT) under § 18.2-267, the handheld device at the roadside

Declining these carries none of the refusal penalties above, because the refusal statute does not apply to them.

Why this matters. The roadside tests are frequently what produces the probable cause for the arrest, which is what triggers implied consent, which is what produces the evidentiary test. People decline the test that carries a twelve-month revocation and perform the ones that are optional. That is exactly backwards, and it happens constantly.

No, and the results are challengeable on several grounds:

• Instrument calibration and certification, and whether the required records exist
• Operator certification on the specific device
• The observation period before the test
• Medical conditions and physiological factors, including GERD, diabetes, and residual mouth alcohol
• Chain of custody and lab procedure, on a blood draw

You have rights at the test that most people do not know about. § 18.2-268.2 requires that you be advised, before the test, that you have the right to observe the process of analysis and to see the reading. If the machine prints a result, you are entitled to a copy.

If the test comes out, the case does not end. The Commonwealth can proceed on the under-the-influence theory using the officer’s observations. Suppressing the number changes the case; it does not always end it.

For the first 7 days, no. An administrative suspension takes effect immediately on arrest under § 46.2-391.2.

After that, it depends on one thing, and the answer is more encouraging than most people are told.

If you took the test: on a first offense, once the 7-day administrative suspension expires, your license is generally returned and you may drive normally while the case is pending, unless something else is suspending you. You have not been convicted of anything. The restricted license and the interlock come after a conviction, not before one.

If you refused: the 12-month revocation applies, and no restricted license is available. See above.

Often, yes. In Virginia it is called a restricted license, not a hardship license, and it is petitioned for under § 18.2-271.1.

What it permits, where the court grants it:

• To and from work, and during work if your job requires driving
• School
• Medical appointments
• ASAP and court obligations
• Child care
• Religious services

What it requires:

• You petition the court. DMV does not grant these. A judge does.
• ASAP enrollment
• An ignition interlock, and this is worth being precise about: the interlock is required regardless of your BAC. The 0.15 threshold triggers mandatory jail. It is not what determines whether you need a device.
• SR-22 insurance

Two hard limits:

• A refusal conviction means no restricted license at all for the 12 months
• No restricted license ever permits operating a commercial motor vehicle. If you drive for a living, your restricted license does not cover your job.

Violating the terms is not a technicality. Under § 46.2-301(F), driving in violation of a DUI restricted license is not a § 46.2-301 offense. It is charged under § 18.2-272, which is a different statute with a felony tier. See below.

The Virginia Alcohol Safety Action Program. It is mandatory on a DUI conviction, and you cannot obtain a restricted license or complete your sentence without it.

• A comprehensive alcohol assessment
• Education classes over a period of weeks
• Ongoing monitoring during probation, which can include testing
• A program fee, at your expense

The assessment matters more than people expect. ASAP evaluates you and can recommend treatment beyond the standard classes, and that recommendation becomes part of what you have to complete.

Failing to complete ASAP is a probation violation that can bring you back before the court on the suspended portion of your sentence. People treat it as an administrative box and lose their restricted license over it.

A breathalyzer wired to your ignition. In Virginia it is a condition of a restricted license following a DUI conviction.

• The vehicle will not start above 0.02
• Random rolling retests while driving
• Every test is recorded and reported to the court
• At least six months on a first offense
• Installation plus a monthly monitoring fee, at your expense, for the full period

A failed or missed test gets reported and can put you back in front of a judge. It is a monitoring program, not just a lock.

Not what most pages tell you, and the difference is a felony.

A DUI-related suspension is not enforced under § 46.2-301. It is charged under Va. Code § 18.2-272, and that matters in two ways:

• A third offense under § 18.2-272 within 10 years is a Class 6 felony, carrying 1 to 5 years
• A § 18.2-272 conviction means no restricted license at all during the revocation period

Your vehicle can be impounded under § 46.2-301.1, and that can happen at the time of the charge, before any conviction.

On “vehicle forfeiture,” be careful. Impoundment and forfeiture are different things, and driving on a suspended license produces impoundment. Anyone describing forfeiture as the routine consequence of this charge is describing something else.

Read the code section on the summons. § 46.2-301 and § 18.2-272 are not the same charge and they do not carry the same future.

§ 18.2-266 is not an alcohol statute. It reaches driving under the influence of narcotics, self-administered intoxicants, and combinations, and it sets specific blood concentrations for certain drugs.

A breath test is useless for a drug DUI, because drugs do not appear on your breath. If an officer suspects drugs, the case goes to a blood draw, which puts the chain of custody and the lab procedure squarely in issue.

Marijuana is the trap. Possession within the legal limit is lawful for adults 21 and older in Virginia. Driving while impaired by it is not, and legality of possession is not a defense to impairment. There is also no breath test for it and no equivalent of the 0.08 presumption, which means these cases turn on the officer’s observations and a blood result whose relationship to impairment is genuinely contestable.

A DUI conviction is a major offense under 49 CFR § 383.51, carrying a one-year disqualification whether you were in a commercial vehicle or your own car, off duty.

• Three years if you were transporting placarded hazardous materials
• A second major offense is a lifetime disqualification, with possible reinstatement after 10 years on completing an approved program
• There is no hardship or restricted CDL. No state may issue a permit allowing CMV operation during a disqualification.
• Refusing the test counts the same as the DUI federally
• 0.04 is the disqualifying level in a CMV. 0.02 puts you out of service for 24 hours under 49 CFR § 392.5.
• You must notify your employer within 30 days
• Federal anti-masking rules prevent using a diversion or improvement program to keep it off your record

Say so at the first conversation if you hold a CDL. The federal consequence is frequently larger than the sentence.

Yes. Va. Code § 18.2-266.1 makes it unlawful for a person under 21 to drive with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.02 or more.

That is roughly one drink. And it is a separate offense from § 18.2-266. A person under 21 can be charged under either or both, depending on the facts and the reading.

Expect a significant increase, and expect to file an SR-22.

• SR-22 is a certificate of financial responsibility your insurer files with DMV. It is required for reinstatement after a DUI, and it must be maintained for a period set by law.
• Your insurer may non-renew you. Others will write the policy at a higher rate.
• The conviction is what insurers rate on, and it stays on your Virginia driving record for 11 years

And note what changed: Virginia eliminated the $500 uninsured motor vehicle fee effective July 1, 2024. Every registered vehicle must now carry liability insurance meeting Virginia’s minimums. The option to pay a fee instead of insuring your car no longer exists.

It depends entirely on the evidence. Where dismissals and reductions come from:

• The stop. An officer needs reasonable suspicion. If the stop was unlawful, what followed can fall with it.
• The arrest. Probable cause is required, and implied consent does not attach without it.
• The three-hour rule, if the arrest fell outside the window
• The test: calibration, certification, the observation period, chain of custody
• The advice of rights, which the statute requires be given

Results depend on the specific facts of each case. Prior outcomes do not guarantee or predict a similar result in any other matter.

That is a real question, and the honest answer is that “pleading guilty” is not one decision. It is several.

Even where the facts are not in dispute:

• Which charge you plead to, and whether an amendment is available, decides whether you have a criminal record and what it says
• The mandatory minimums are not negotiable, but everything above them is, and the difference between the floor and the ceiling on a Class 1 misdemeanor is twelve months
• The restricted license is petitioned for at the time of the plea. It is not automatic, and what you do not ask for, you do not get.
• The collateral consequences (a CDL, a clearance, a professional license, immigration status) frequently outweigh the sentence and are invisible from inside the courtroom
• The record follows the conviction, not the sentence

The one thing worth knowing before you decide: the mandatory minimums in this statute stack and run consecutively, and Virginia gives you no diversion to fall back on. There is no version of this that gets cleaned up afterward.