North Carolina § 20-138 - 1. Impaired driving.

§ 20-138. 1. Impaired driving.

Offense. - A person commits the offense of impaired driving if he drives any vehicle upon any highway, any street, or any public vehicular area within this State: While under the influence of an impairing substance; or After having consumed sufficient alcohol that he has, at any relevant time after the driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. The results of a chemical analysis shall be deemed sufficient evidence to prove a person's alcohol concentration; or With any amount of a Schedule I controlled substance, as listed in G.S. 90-89, or its metabolites in his blood or urine. A person who has submitted to a chemical analysis of a blood sample, pursuant to G.S. 20-139.1(d), may use the result in rebuttal as evidence that the person did not have, at a relevant time after driving, an alcohol concentration of 0.08 or more. Defense Precluded. - The fact that a person charged with violating this section is or has been legally entitled to use alcohol or a drug is not a defense to a charge under this section. Defense Allowed. - Nothing in this section shall preclude a person from asserting that a chemical analysis result is inadmissible pursuant to G.S. 20-139.1(b2). Pleading. - In any prosecution for impaired driving, the pleading is sufficient if it states the time and place of the alleged offense in the usual form and charges that the defendant drove a vehicle on a highway or public vehicular area while subject to an impairing substance. Sentencing Hearing and Punishment. - Impaired driving as defined in this section is a misdemeanor. Upon conviction of a defendant of impaired driving, the presiding judge shall hold a sentencing hearing and impose punishment in accordance with G.S. 20-179. Exception. - Notwithstanding the definition of "vehicle" pursuant to G.S. 20-4.01(49), for purposes of this section the word "vehicle" does not include a horse. History (1983, c. 435, s. 24; 1989, c. 711, s. 2; 1993, c. 285, s. 1; 2006-253, s. 9.) Cross References. - For Parole Commission's authority to parole and terminate supervision of persons convicted under this section, see G.S. 15A-1372(d) . As to compensation for injury caused by sales of alcoholic beverages to underage persons, see G.S. 18B-120 et seq. For definition of "alcohol concentration," see G.S. 20-4.01 (1b). As to felony and misdemeanor death by vehicle, see G.S. 20-141.4 . Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-253, s. 9, effective December 1, 2006, and applicable to offenses committed on or after that date, in subdivision (a)(2), added the last sentence; added subdivision (a)(3) and subsections (a1) and (b1); substituted "shall" for "must" in subsection (d); and deleted "bicycle, or lawnmower" at the end of subsection (e). Legal Periodicals. - For comment, "Liability of Commercial Vendors, Employers, and Social Hosts for Torts of the Intoxicated," see 19 Wake Forest L. Rev. 1013 (1983). For note discussing the definition of "driving" under the North Carolina Safe Roads Act, in light of State v. Fields, 77 N.C. App. 404, 335 S.E.2d 69 (1985), see 64 N.C.L. Rev. 1278 (1986). For note, "Constitutional Law-Enhanced Sentencing Under North Carolina's DWI Statute: Making Due Process Disappear - Field v. Sheriff of Wake County, N.C.," see 23 Wake Forest L. Rev. 517 (1988). For note, "North Carolina and Pretrial Civil Revocation of an Impaired Driver's License and the Double Jeopardy Clause," see 18 Campbell L. Rev. 391 (1996). For a survey of 1996 developments in constitutional law, see 75 N.C.L. Rev. 2315 (1997). For 1997 legislative survey, see 20 Campbell L. Rev. 417. For comment, "North Carolina's Unconstitutional Expansion of an Ancient Maxim: Using DWI Fatalities to Satisfy First Degree Felony Murder," see 22 Campbell L. Rev. 169 (1999). For note, "Ramifications of the 1997 DWI/Felony Prior Record Level Amendment to the Structured Sentencing Act: State of North Carolina v. Tanya Watts Gentry," see 22 Campbell L. Rev. 211 (1999). For article, "A Comparative Analysis of Traffic Accident Systems," see 53 Wake Forest L. Rev. 365 (2018). For article, "When Cars Crash: The Automobile's Tort Law Legacy,” see 53 Wake Forest L. Rev. 293 (2018).