Drunk driving limits in Brazil and all South American countries

Brazil allows no alcohol at all. Any detectable amount is an administrative offence under the Lei Seca, and above a set threshold it becomes a crime carrying six months to three years' detention. The rest of South America is not one rule but ten, ranging from Uruguay's absolute zero to Guyana's 0.8 g/L — the same figure as England and Wales.

Every number on this page was read from the country's own statute or regulation. Where a limit could not be sourced from an official text, this page says so instead of repeating a figure from a travel guide.

Brazil: zero tolerance, and a second threshold that turns it into a crime

Brazil runs two layers, and confusing them is the most common mistake.

The administrative layer. Article 276 of the Código de Trânsito Brasileiro states that any concentration of alcohol subjects the driver to the penalties in article 165 — a gravíssima infraction, a fine of ten times the base gravíssima value of R$ 293,47 (so R$ 2.934,70), twelve months' suspension of the right to drive, and retention of the vehicle. A repeat within twelve months doubles the fine. Refusing the test carries exactly the same penalty, under article 165-A.

The criminal layer. Article 306 § 1 makes it a crime at 6 decigrams per litre of blood (0.6 g/L) or 0.3 mg per litre of alveolar air. The penalty is detention of six months to three years, plus a fine and suspension.

What the breathalyser has to read. The statute sets the thresholds; CONTRAN Resolution 432/2013 sets what the device must show, because the instrument's margin of error is deducted from the reading before anyone is charged. Its Annex I tabulates the measured value against the value considered:

So 0.3 mg/L and 0.34 mg/L are the same threshold seen from two ends: 0.3 is what the law tests, 0.34 is what the device must display to prove it. Blood carries no margin at all — article 7 of the resolution applies the deduction to breath only.

Legal alcohol limits across South America

Ten countries below, each with the instrument the figure comes from. Two more are discussed after the table.

Where the structures actually differ

Some countries have no administrative tier at all. In Ecuador every band carries prison: 0.3–0.8 g/L is five days, above 0.8 to 1.2 is fifteen, above 1.2 is thirty, alongside fines set as multiples of the salario básico unificado and points off the licence. Peru is criminal from its first threshold too — article 274 is an offence in the Penal Code, not a traffic ticket.

Bolivia punishes with the licence, not the wallet. Neither Ley 259 nor its regulation sets a fine or a prison term. A first offence is one year of disqualification; a repeat is permanent; a public servant caught on duty is also dismissed.

Paraguay is not a zero-tolerance country, despite often being described as one. Its lower administrative band begins at 0.400 g/L, and below that there is no listed infraction. Above 0.799 g/L the file goes to the Ministerio Público for criminal prosecution.

Professional drivers are usually held to a separate figure — 0.1 g/L in Ecuador, 0.25 g/L in Peru. Uruguay is the exception, and not because it is lenient: its limit is already 0.0 for everyone.

Only two countries here publish a breath figure of their own. Guyana states 35 µg per 100 ml and Paraguay states milligrams per litre of exhaled air alongside every blood band. Elsewhere — Chile and Argentina included — the law fixes a blood figure and treats the breath test as a route to proving it, so there is no separate breath number to quote.

Two countries this page does not give a figure for

Venezuela and Suriname. In both cases the official text exists and is published by the right authority, and in both cases it is a scanned image with no machine-readable layer. Figures for both circulate widely, but repeating a number that several unofficial sources agree on is precisely how outdated limits stay in circulation. Until the statutes can be read, this page states no limit for either.

What this means if you are driving

Limits are thresholds for punishment, not thresholds for safety. Impairment of reaction time and judgement begins below every figure on this page, which is why Argentina and Uruguay moved to zero and why Brazil treats any detectable amount as an offence.

Two practical points for crossing borders. First, the number changes at the border and the enforcement changes with it — a reading that is a fine in Paraguay is a criminal matter in Peru. Second, refusing the test is itself an offence in Brazil, Paraguay and Suriname, and in Brazil it carries the identical penalty to failing it, so refusal is not a way out.

You can estimate your blood alcohol level with our free calculator before you drive. It is an estimate based on the Widmark formula, not legal proof — only an official breathalyser or blood test counts, and metabolism varies between people. If you are driving, the only reliable figure is zero.