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Since Aug. 1, 2007, people under the age of 21 are prohibited from drinking any
alcohol when operating a vehicle on public roads in Germany. In other words, the presence of any alcohol in the blood is an offense under German law if you are driving and under the age of 21. Anyone violating this law will normally receive a standard fine of €125.
Here are the current rules for suspension of driving privileges: Driving privileges are suspended if your blood alcohol test is .05 g/100 ml or above. German authorities and U.S. authorities report BATs differently. German law uses milligrams per milliliters. U.S. law uses grams per 100 milliliters. Therefore, a “0.5” BAT in Germany would be a “0.05” BAT in the USA.
If your BAT is 0.5 (0.05 in the U.S. report), the German authorities will normally suspend your license for one month and charge a €250 fine. Air Force authorities will automatically revoke your driving privileges for one year.
If you have an accident or other evidence of “functional defects” in your driving
(for example, repeatedly swerving or crossing the center line), then German auth-orities reduce the “legal” BAT to 0.3 (0.03 in the U.S. report). In that case, you could receive a criminal fine (ranging from several hundred Euros to more than €1,000, depending on your income and in some cases, even jail time. German authorities will revoke your license and Air Force authorities will also revoke
driving privileges for a year.
(Courtesy of 435th Air Base Wing Legal Office)
