While Virginia is generally known for the stringency of its drinking-and-driving laws, the elements of driving while intoxicated (DWI) in Virginia themselves are very similar to Washington, D.C. and other jurisdictions. The penalties are only a little bit more severe.
The Virginia statute groups all drinking-and-driving offenses under the general category of DWI. As in D.C., there is the per se offense of DWI in which the government only needs to prove two elements. First, it needs to prove that the defendant was driving or operating a motor vehicle. Second, it needs to introduce admissible breath, blood, or urine tests indicating that, at the time of testing, the defendant’s blood alcohol concentration was 0.08 or greater. The court can then infer impaired driving through intoxication.
The second way for the government to make out the offense of DWI is to prove that the defendant was operating the vehicle while under the influence of either alcohol, drugs, or some combination thereof. With respect to drugs, there are separate threshold levels for cocaine, methamphetamine, phencyclidine, and methylene-dioxymethamphetamine. In the case of driving under the influence of alcohol, the government also needs to introduce some evidence of impaired driving.
The penalty for a first conviction for DWI is a maximum fine of $2,500, imprisonment for up to 12 months (all of which can be suspended), and a one-year suspension of the person’s driving privileges beginning on the date of judgment. If the blood alcohol concentration of the defendant at the time of testing was between 0.15 and 0.20, there is a 5-day mandatory minimum sentence of incarceration that cannot be suspended. (For comparison, the threshold for a mandatory jail term in D.C. for a first-time offender is 0.20.)
If the blood alcohol concentration was greater than 0.20, there is an additional 10 days of mandatory jail time. There is also a 5-day mandatory jail term and a $500-$1,000 fine for anyone convicted of DWI committed while transporting a person 17 years old or younger. There are enhanced penalties – and mandatory jail sentences – for second and subsequent offenses within 5 and 10 year look-back periods.
