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Worldwide · Drink-driving limits
BAC limits by country
152 countries
49 with a calculator
23 with stricter limits for some drivers
The legal blood alcohol limit for driving, for every country this site covers.
Countries are grouped by how strict the limit is rather than alphabetically,
because the tier is what actually decides whether a single drink puts you over.
Where a country sets a stricter limit for novice or professional
drivers, that sub-limit is listed on its card.
Search for a country, or pick a region and open any country to calculate an
estimate against its limit. Figures are the general adult limit stated as the
permitted maximum, in the unit that country's own law and press use.
Rules that override the standard limit
The figure on a country's card is the general limit for an adult driving a
private car. Several categories of driver are held to a stricter one, so if
any of these describe you, assume your real limit is lower than the card says
and check the country's own page.
Novice and probationary drivers
Many countries hold drivers to a stricter limit for the first years after licensing, and it usually applies regardless of age. Several set it at zero.
19
countries recorded:
Austria 0.1 ‰ · Switzerland 0.1 ‰ · Cyprus 0.2 ‰ · Germany 0.0 ‰ · Denmark 0.2 ‰ · Spain 0.3 ‰ · France 0.2 ‰ · Greece 0.2 ‰ · Croatia 0.0 ‰ · Ireland 0.2 ‰ · Israel 0.1 ‰ · Italy 0.0 ‰ · Lithuania 0.0 ‰ · Luxembourg 0.2 ‰ · Latvia 0.2 ‰ · Netherlands 0.2 ‰ · Portugal 0.2 ‰ · Slovenia 0.0 ‰ · Turkey 0.2 ‰
Professional and commercial drivers
Driving a lorry, bus, coach or taxi commonly carries a lower limit than the same journey in a private car. Where a country states one figure for both novices and professionals, it appears in each list.
19
countries recorded:
Austria 0.1 ‰ · Belgium 0.2 ‰ · Switzerland 0.1 ‰ · Cyprus 0.2 ‰ · Germany 0.0 ‰ · Spain 0.3 ‰ · France 0.2 ‰ · Greece 0.2 ‰ · Croatia 0.0 ‰ · Ireland 0.2 ‰ · Israel 0.1 ‰ · Italy 0.0 ‰ · Lithuania 0.0 ‰ · Luxembourg 0.2 ‰ · Portugal 0.2 ‰ · Slovenia 0.0 ‰ · Turkey 0.2 ‰ · United States 0.0 ‰ · South Africa 0.2 ‰
Age-based limits for younger drivers
A few countries write the limit against how old the driver is rather than against how long they have held a licence. Spain sets one for drivers under 18; New Zealand sets one for drivers under 20, where any detected alcohol at all is an offence. Coverage here is thin, so treat an absence as "not recorded", not as "no such rule".
2
countries recorded:
Spain 0.0 ‰ · New Zealand 0.0 ‰
Aggravated bands with heavier penalties
Above a second, higher threshold the offence usually stops being an administrative matter: mandatory disqualification, and in many countries a criminal record or custody. These are the highest thresholds we hold, not the ordinary limit.
16
countries recorded:
Australia 1.50 ‰ · Bosnia and Herzegovina 1.50 ‰ · Bulgaria 1.20 ‰ · Denmark 1.20 ‰ · Estonia 1.50 ‰ · Spain 1.20 ‰ · Finland 1.20 ‰ · Croatia 1.50 ‰ · Israel 1.50 ‰ · Latvia 1.50 ‰ · Netherlands 1.30 ‰ · Portugal 1.20 ‰ · Serbia 1.20 ‰ · United Kingdom 1.50 ‰ · United States 1.50 ‰ · South Africa 1.50 ‰
Most of these sub-limits come from the ETSC comparison of drink-driving
limits across Europe, which is why the coverage is largely European;
New Zealand, South Africa and the United States were each read from their
own statute. A country missing from a list means we hold no sourced figure
for it, not that it has no such rule — Australia, for one, sets novice
limits state by state, so there is no single national figure to record.
Limits change, and a handful of countries set them at state or provincial
level rather than nationally. Each country page carries its own source and
the date that figure was last checked against the official register. If you
are driving, the only figure that is never wrong is zero.
