Michigan DUI Law & Lawyers: DUI-Web

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If you refuse to take a breath, blood or urine test (§ 257.625c) after being arrested for an OWI/OWVI or other drinking related charge (§ 257.625.), you may be at risk of having your license suspended if you do not demand an administrative hearing within 14 days after your arrest. (§ 257.625f. )

Michigan drunk driving laws are sometimes referred to as OMVI or Michigan OWI laws. There are actually three distinct drunk driving offenses in Michigan:

Operating under the influence of intoxicating liquor;
Driving with an unlawful bodily alcohol level/content; and
Operating while impaired. Of these three, OWI is the least serious offense.

Click § 257.625 for more information on Michigan drunk driving laws.

These are criminal offenses, and therefore, to successfully prosecute drunk driving case against you, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant was:

operating a motor vehicle,
while under the influence of alcohol, controlled substances or both, and
alcohol materially or substantially affected operating the motor vehicle.

A prosecutor could also obtain a drunk driving conviction by showing that you violated the "per se" law, (§ 257.625. (1)(b) ) which only relates to body chemistry, and has nothing to do with actual impairment. In order to gain a conviction under this theory, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt, that

while he or she was operating his motor vehicle
The driver's blood or breath alcohol content (BAC) was at or greater than .08%,

In Michigan, in order to gain a Operating While Intoxicated (OWI) conviction, the prosecutor must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the driver was

operating a motor vehicle,
while alcohol visibly weakened or reduced his ability to operate his motor vehicle. (§ 257.625)

These criminal offenses can also apply to minors. Because the liquor control laws define adults as someone 21 years of age or older, Michigan enacted the “Zero Tolerance” law for people under age 21. Under this law, minors may not operate a motor vehicle with any bodily alcohol content. (§ 257.625(6)).

A conviction or plea of guilty of driving with an excessive BAC, means the person is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by 1 or more of the following:

Community service for not more than 360 hours.
Imprisonment for not more than 93 days.
A fine of up to $500.00.

If the violation occurs within 7 years of a prior conviction, the person shall be sentenced to pay a fine of up to $1,000.00 and 1 or more of the following:

Imprisonment for not less than 5 days or more than 1 year.
Community service for up to 90 days.

If the violation occurs within 10 years of 2 or more prior convictions, the person is guilty of a felony and shall be sentenced to pay a fine of up to $5,000.00 and to either of the following:

Imprisonment under the jurisdiction of the department of corrections for not less than 1 year or more than 5 years.
Probation with imprisonment in the county jail for up to 1 year and community service for up to 180 days.

On top of the above effects of a criminal conviction, a convicted person's license will be suspended or revoked for various lengths of time depending on the circumstances.

For a conviction of Operating Under the Influence of Intoxicating Liquor (OUIL) or Driving with an Unlawful Bodily Alcohol Level/Content (UBAL/UBAC), the license will be suspended for up to two years, without restriction for the first thirty days. If the convicted person has a prior conviction, the license may be revoked.

For an Operating While Intoxicated conviction (OWI), a license may be suspended for up to one year, but the convicted person is able to get a restricted license immediately. A restricted license allows the convicted person to drive to, from and during work, to alcohol treatment, school, community service or probation. He/She must carry proof of destination and hours to show law enforcement.

The toughest sanction with respect to vehicles is that a sentencing judge may confiscate (§ 257.625n.) the vehicle the convicted person operated at the time. The vehicle does not have to belong to the operator-it can be anyone else's vehicle, and it does matter if the vehicle is necessary for the other members of the drunk driver's family.