Alcohol Concentration Restrictions and Ignition Interlock: What's the Law?

Among the questions I am most frequently asked is: What is the proper charge when a person violates an alcohol concentration restriction on his or her driver’s license? As soon as I answer that question, the next one comes in: Is the answer the same if the person violates an ignition interlock restriction? When I say that it is not, additional questions follow. If you too are unsure about the rules for charging and processing a person who is suspected of violating one of these types of license restrictions, I’m hoping the rest of this post will clear things up.  Alcohol concentration restrictions. When the North Carolina Division of Motor Vehicles (DMV) restores a person’s North Carolina driver’s license after it has been revoked for impaired driving or driving by a person under 21 after consuming, the license is restored subject to certain conditions. See G.S. 20-19(c3). If the person’s driver’s license was revoked for impaired driving and this is the first time the person’s license has been restored, the license is restored subject to the condition that the person not operate a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of 0.04 at any relevant time after the driving. This restriction is denoted on the person’s physical license card as Restriction 19.   If the person’s driver’s license was revoked for driving after consuming by a person under 21, the license is restored subject to the condition that the person not operate a vehicle with an alcohol concentration of 0.00 at any relevant [...]