Drinking and Driving in St Barth

With the holiday celebrations in full swing, be careful of drinking and driving. The penalties are stiff. Recently, an American citizen was stopped for an alcohol test while driving a rental car. She tested positive with 0.50 mg of alcohol per liter of air exhaled. The penalty? She was asked to pay the fine of 800 euros and to leave the island if she didn’t want to go before a judge. That’s one fast way to ruin your vacation! Under French law, the legal level of alcohol in the blood is 0.5 grams per liter of blood. If you have up to 0.8 grams, you risk a fine of 135 euros. Higher than that level, if there hasn’t been an accident, you must pay a fine immediately. If there has been an accident, you must go before the judge. The sentence for drunk driving can be up to two years in prison and up to 4500 euros in fines. Think before you drink!