Tenn. Code Ann. § 55-10-401

Driving under the influence prohibited — Alcohol concentration in blood or breath

Applied in 54 court decisions — leading case State v. Burns (1999)

Most recently applied in State of Tennessee v. Rosemary L. Decosimo (August 2018)

Acts 1953, ch. 202, § 1 (Williams, § 10830.2); Acts 1961, ch. 63, § 1; 1977, ch. 420, § 1; 1979, ch. 265, § 1; T.C.A

How often courts cite this section

citing decisions per year

Court decisions citing this, by year. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.

It is unlawful for any person to drive or to be in physical control of any automobile or other motor driven vehicle on any of the public roads and highways of the state, or on any streets or alleys, or while on the premises of any shopping center, trailer park, or apartment house complex, or any other premises that is generally frequented by the public at large, while:

(1) Under the influence of any intoxicant, marijuana, controlled substance, controlled substance analogue, drug, substance affecting the central nervous system, or combination thereof that impairs the driver's ability to safely operate a motor vehicle by depriving the driver of the clearness of mind and control of oneself that the driver would otherwise possess;

(2) The alcohol concentration in the person's blood or breath is eight-hundredths of one percent (0.08%) or more; or

(3) With a blood alcohol concentration of four-hundredths of one percent (0.04%) or more and the vehicle is a commercial motor vehicle as defined in § 55-50-102.

Current official text: Tennessee Code (LexisNexis). Digitized from the UniCourt Code Improvement Commission public-domain capture. Reproduced from public-domain Tennessee statutes; confirm against the official source for the current text. Not legal advice.