Penalties for drink driving

It is the penalty ladder of Chapter VII of Act 22-2000 for anyone violating Articles 7.01, 7.02 or 7.03: what happens on the road, what fine, how much jail, how long without a licence, when the ignition interlock comes in and when the vehicle is confiscated. Where the line sits is in the sibling guide; this is the one about what it costs.

These penalties apply to anyone convicted of violating Articles 7.01, 7.02 or 7.03 of Act 22-2000. The ladder in subsection (b) is triggered where the level is 0.08% or more; 0.02% or more for people between eighteen and twenty and for drivers of trucks, motorcycles, school buses, heavy public service vehicles and heavy motor vehicles; or with any alcohol concentration for people under eighteen.

• Being convicted of violating Articles 7.01, 7.02 or 7.03 of Act 22-2000. The offence is a misdemeanour.Verified against the official source
• For the confiscation in subsection (b)(4): that it be a second or subsequent conviction, that the vehicle be registered in the Motor Vehicle Registry in the convicted person’s name and that the earlier conviction was adjudicated within the previous five years.Verified against the official source

Information pending verification.

1. 1

   Step 1: On the road: a citation, and you do not drive on

   Article 7.04(a) says the intervening officer shall issue a citation for a hearing to determine probable cause for arrest, “and shall not allow them to continue driving and shall transport them to the nearest station, where they shall remain until the level of alcohol in their blood is below the minimum permitted by law” or until they are no longer under the effects of the drug or substance. That is, the night ends at the station even without a formal arrest at that moment.

2. 2

   Step 2: First offence: $500, orientation and up to 30 days without a licence

   Article 7.04(b)(1) imposes a five hundred dollar fine, plus fifty dollars for each additional hundredth over the legal concentration limit, and restitution where applicable. Added to that is compulsory attendance at a certified orientation programme the Department sets up with the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration; the programme “may cost no more than (50) dollars if offered by the Department”. And the licence is suspended for a term not exceeding thirty days. If you fail to meet the sentence and rehabilitation conditions, a penalty of five to fifteen days in jail is imposed.

3. 3

   Step 3: Second conviction: jail and a year without a licence

   Article 7.04(b)(2) imposes a seven hundred and fifty dollar fine, plus the same fifty dollars per additional hundredth, jail of fifteen to thirty days and restitution where applicable. In addition the licence is suspended for a term of not less than one year, or a combined penalty is imposed consisting of at least three restrictions: suspension of all driving privileges for the first forty-five days, followed by limited restoration for going to and from work, place of study or an alcohol addiction programme, provided an ignition interlock device is installed in every motor vehicle the convicted person owns and/or operates; an evaluation to determine the degree of alcohol abuse and the corresponding treatment; and community service of not less than thirty days on a second conviction.

4. 4

   Step 4: You pay for the interlock, and drive only that car

   The same subsection sets two conditions where the Court allows the ignition interlock device: you must drive only the vehicle or vehicles where it is installed, and you must bear the cost of buying and installing it as well as its maintenance, filing evidence of that installation with the Court on or before five days after sentencing. And Article 7.04(d) makes it a misdemeanour with a five hundred dollar fine to tamper with, disable, evade or interfere with the device, to sell or install it without authorisation, to drive a vehicle without it while subject to the condition, or to help someone else do so.

5. 5

   Step 5: Third and subsequent: licence revoked indefinitely

   Article 7.04(b)(3) imposes a fine of not less than two thousand nor more than five thousand dollars, plus the fifty dollars per additional hundredth, and jail of not less than sixty days nor more than six months, with restitution where applicable. As part of the sentence, the court orders community service of not less than sixty days, “and the driving licence privilege shall be revoked indefinitely”.

6. 6

   Step 6: Recidivism runs five years and need not be pleaded

   Article 7.04(b)(5) says recidivism exists where a person convicted and sentenced for violating Articles 7.01, 7.02 or 7.03 again commits a violation of those articles within a term of not more than five years counted from the conviction. And it adds something important for anyone who assumes the prosecutor must raise it in the complaint: “it shall not be necessary for recidivism to be pleaded in the complaint or the information. It shall suffice that the fact of recidivism be established through the pre-sentence report or through a criminal record certificate”.

7. 7

   Step 7: Vehicle confiscation from the second conviction

   Article 7.04(b)(4) says that on a second and subsequent conviction the Court shall also order the confiscation of the motor vehicle the convicted person was driving when stopped, subject to Act 119-2011, the Uniform Confiscations Act of 2011, if the vehicle is registered in the Motor Vehicle Registry in the convicted person’s name and the earlier conviction was adjudicated within the five years before the new conviction. Recidivism need not be pleaded in the complaint: it is evidenced in the pre-sentence report. The Secretary must set the confiscation process by regulation, including the exceptions needed not to penalise someone who depends entirely on the vehicle for the necessities of life, including a family member or a co-owner who is not the convicted person. We did not read that regulation.

8. 8

   Step 8: With a child under fifteen or a pregnant woman aboard

   Article 7.04(c) says anyone convicted of violating Articles 7.01, 7.02 or 7.03 who was also driving in the company of a minor aged fifteen or under, or a pregnant woman, shall be punished with a one thousand dollar fine plus fifty dollars for each additional hundredth over the limit and forty-eight hours in jail.

9. 9

   Step 9: Two more costs, and one blocks getting the licence back

   Article 7.04(e) imposes as a special penalty covering the cost of the chemical and/or physical analyses the Police and/or the Health Department subjected you to; the cost is set by whichever agency ran the test, and that agency must report it to the Justice Department through the District Prosecutor. And Article 7.04(f) says that on a second and subsequent offence the Court shall order appearance before a Victim Impact Panel Programme coordinated by the Traffic Safety Commission, whose cost is paid by the convicted person and shall not exceed fifty dollars, convertible into community service hours where they show inability to pay. And filing evidence of that participation with the Court is “an indispensable condition for the return of their driving licence”.

The stop and the transport to the station are the law-enforcement officer’s. The case is heard at the Court of First Instance, which passes sentence, orders the ignition interlock and the confiscation, and receives the Victim Impact Panel evidence. Suspension and return of the licence are carried out by the Department of Transportation and Public Works. The orientation programme and the alcohol abuse evaluation run through the Mental Health and Anti-Addiction Services Administration.

• Believing the fine is a fixed figure: fifty dollars per additional hundredth over the limit is added at every tier.
• Thinking you are allowed to drive on with the citation: the Act says the officer shall not allow it and takes you to the station.
• Assuming there is no programme the first time: attendance at the orientation programme is compulsory.
• Believing a second conviction is settled with a fine: there are fifteen to thirty days in jail.
• Thinking the State pays for the interlock: the Act puts purchase, installation and maintenance on you.
• Forgetting the five days: evidence of the device’s installation is filed with the Court on or before five days after sentencing.
• Driving another car while the device is installed in one: the Act requires driving only the vehicle where it is installed.
• Counting on the prosecutor forgetting recidivism: it need not be pleaded, the pre-sentence report or a criminal record certificate is enough.
• Believing the recidivism clock is shorter: it is five years counted from the conviction.
• Assuming confiscation always applies: it requires a second or subsequent conviction, the vehicle registered in your name and an earlier conviction within the previous five years.
• Ignoring who is beside you: with a child aged fifteen or under, or a pregnant woman, it is one thousand dollars and forty-eight hours in jail.
• Expecting the licence back without the Victim Impact Panel: filing that evidence is an indispensable condition.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• Departamento de Transportación y Obras Públicas (DTOP)

  DTOP

  bvirtualogp.pr.gov