NHTSA Policy Topics

This section of the APIS Web site provides material from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's Digest of State Alcohol-Highway Safety Related Legislation [1]. The NHTSA Digest is published yearly and reports "the status of State laws that are concerned with drunk driving offenses and alcoholic beverage control."

Information is presented here for eleven of the policies reported in the Digest. Those policies, using NHTSA's titles, are grouped into the following categories.

Underage Drinking: Minimum Age (Years) Sale/Purchase, Minimum Age (Years) Possession, and Minimum Age (Years) Consumption

NHTSA Policy Topic: Underage Drinking

Blood Alcohol Concentration Limits: Illegal Per Se Law (BAC/BrAC), and Illegal Per Se Law (BAC/BrAC) - Persons Under 21 Years Old

NHTSA Policy Topic: Blood Alcohol Concentration Limits

Drinking and Driving: Open Container Law, Anti-Consumption Law, Pre-Sentencing Investigation Law (PSI), and Laws Requiring BAC Chemical Tests on Persons Killed in Traffic Accidents

NHTSA Policy Topic: Drinking and Driving

Administrative Licensing Actions: Administrative Per Se Law and Penalties for 1st Violation, and Administrative Per Se Law and Penalties for 1st Violation - Persons Under 21 Years Old

NHTSA Policy Topic: Administrative Licensing Actions

For policies in the Drinking and Driving-Related Laws category, the comparison tables present information from NHTSA Digests for the years 1988 through 2003. For policies in the Administrative Licensing Actions category, the comparison tables present information from the Digests for the years 1998 through 2003. The 2003 Digest is the latest released in print by NHTSA. With the exception of Open Containers of Alcohol in Motor Vehicles, there are currently no APIS policy topics corresponding to the policies in these categories.

Although the NHTSA Digest material is displayed in the same table format as APIS policy topics, the two data sets have significant differences that limit their compatibility. Users of these tables are advised to review the explanatory notes and limitations with care.

The information presented in the comparison tables for this section of the APIS Web site has been copied directly from NHTSA Digests by APIS staff without further analysis or review of the underlying legal research. Legal citations and notes are presented as they appear in the Digests and do not conform to citation conventions used elsewhere on this Web site.

The Digest contains a notice that it "is distributed by the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in the interest of information exchange. The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Department of Transportation, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The United States Government assumes no liability for its content or use thereof. If trade or manufacturer's names or products are mentioned, it is because they are considered essential to the object of the publication and should not be construed as an endorsement. The United States Government does not endorse products or manufacturers."

1. Information presented in the comparison tables for this section has been abstracted from the Digest of Alcohol-Highway Safety Related Information, Volumes 5 to 21, published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), U.S. Department of Transportation.