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As of Aug. 1, 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 be fined up to €1,000.
This new German law does not change the current rules for suspension of driving privileges. Driving privileges are suspended if your blood alcohol test is .05 g/100 ml or above. Germans authorities and U.S. authorities report BATs different. German law uses milligrams (mg) per milliliters (ml). 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 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, swerving repeatedly or repeatedly crossing the center line), then German authorities reduce the “legal” BAT to 0.3 (0.03 in the US 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.
Air Force and USAREUR authorities are reviewing the new German law to determine if any changes are needed to USAREUR and AF regulations governing your USAREUR driving privileges.
(Courtesy of the 435h Air Base Wing legal office)
