NCJ Number
149940
Date Published
1992
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This report presents a chronological summary of Minnesota's laws related to driving while impaired (DWI) and drunk driving from 1961 through 1992.
Abstract
An implied consent law was adopted in 1961, authorizing driver's license revocation for refusal to submit to a blood alcohol test. In 1971, the blood alcohol limit for a DWI offense was set at 0.10 or higher. The legal drinking age was lowered to 18 in 1973 and raised to 21 in 1986. Laws enacted in 1992 related to forfeiture of vehicles upon the fourth conviction for a DWI offense; release of a towed vehicle in a DWI arrest only upon proof of ownership and insurance; driver's license being subject to revocation if a DWI suspect is in an accident involving death or serious injury and refuses testing; and ineligibility of first-time DWI offenders for work permits for the first 15 days of revocation if an implied consent test is taken or for the first 90 days if an implied consent test is refused. Effective dates of each law are listed.