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The sanctions for impaired driving differ from one jurisdiction to another, but the issue is still regarded as a big problem in the community. Drunk driving has killed 11,904 people in accidents in 2024, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. And these cases comprised about 30% of all car accident fatalities in the US that year.
For most drivers convicted of driving while impaired, the outcome leads to a hearing that happens after the verdict rather than on anything decided at the roadside. DWI charges can be grouped into various categories, with DWI level 4 being one of them.
DWI Level 4 is a sentencing category that is relatively minor compared to the other categories with more aggravating or grossly aggravating factors.
Level 4 sits in the middle of that bottom group. Not the mildest result available. Not the harshest either.
Six levels, and most drivers never see three of them
G.S. 20-179 sorts impaired driving sentences into six levels, running from Aggravated Level 1 down through Level 5. The top three open up only when a judge finds a grossly aggravating factor. A prior impaired driving conviction within the last seven years counts. So does driving on a license already revoked for impaired driving, causing serious injury to another person or carrying a child under 18 in the vehicle. Three or more of those and the judge must impose aggravated Level 1. One of them, standing alone, produces Level 2.
With none of them in the case, the judge weighs the evidence. Aggravating factors substantially outweighing mitigating ones produce Level 3. Mitigating substantially outweighing aggravating produces Level 5. Level 4 covers what is left over, including the case where the judge finds nothing at all on either side.
What the sentence looks like on paper
A Level 4 sentence means a minimum of 48 hours and a maximum of 120 days, plus fines that could reach $500. These 48 hours are rarely spent in jail. Instead, defendants serve 48 hours of community service. A judge may credit time spent as an inpatient at a licensed treatment facility against an active term. Set that against the tiers on either side.
Level 3 runs from 72 hours to six months with a fine up to $1,000. Level 5 has a minimum of 24 hours and $200.
The factors a judge actually weighs
The aggravating list runs long. Examples include gross impairment or an alcohol concentration of 0.15 or higher. Other aggravating factors include reckless driving, driving on a revoked license, and speeding. Two or more prior convictions for non-impaired driving offenses carrying at least three points within five years also count, as does a prior impaired driving conviction older than seven years.
There are many mitigating factors that may persuade a judge to impose a Level 4 DWI sentence instead of a more severe penalty. These include impairment from alcohol with a blood alcohol concentration of 0.09 or lower, cases where no chemical test results are available, impairment primarily caused by a legally prescribed medication taken as directed, voluntary participation in a mental health evaluation and any recommended treatment, or a history of safe driving.
That last one carries a threshold people get wrong. A safe driving record means no conviction that carries at least four points within five years. The three-point figure belongs on the aggravating side of the ledger and keeps migrating to the mitigating side in secondary write-ups.
The state proves aggravating factors beyond a reasonable doubt. The defendant proves mitigating factors by the greater weight of the evidence. The burden of weighing these factors falls on the judge and not the prosecutors.
A new mitigating factor arrived in December
Session Law 2025-71 added a mitigating factor for pretrial ignition interlock use, effective for offenses committed on or after December 1, 2025. Installing the device does not earn the credit. The statute wants installation within 45 days of the charge, operation of only that vehicle for at least six months and proof the driver never started it above 0.02 BAC. Eligibility narrows further from there. The driver in question must not be involved in any crash causing serious injury or death. The driver must also have a valid license or one expired less than a year, no other pending impaired driving charge or conviction in the prior five years and an alcohol concentration under 0.15 at the time of the offense.
The defendant can build these conditions after an arrest.
Texas grades the offense instead of weighing the factors
In other states, DWI cases are categorized differently. For instance, Texas runs no factor-weighing hearing at all. It breaks down impaired driving by offense class. A first offense is typically a Class B misdemeanor. But if the first offense is with alcohol concentration of .15 or greater, it becomes a Class A offense. Similarly, a second offense is also a Class A offense. A third offense escalates as a felony carrying two to 10 years.
In case you are facing DWI charges, hiring a defense lawyer is advisable. According to Dallas DWI lawyer Keith Harris, establishing relationships with clients can help determine effective criminal defense strategies.
The difference between the two systems is where the argument happens. In Texas, it happens over what the offense is. In jurisdictions that use the level 4 DWI sentence category, the argument focuses on what the offense was like in front of a judge after the verdict had already landed. Two drivers facing identical charges can walk out with different sentences depending entirely on what each side carries into that hearing.
