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Woman charged with DUI in Rhode Island had 5x legal BAC limit

SCITUATE, R.I. (WPRI) – When someone gets behind the wheel of a car in most of the United States, they’re considered drunk, intoxicated or impaired – improper to drive – if their blood alcohol content (BAC) level is 0.08 percent or higher.

Elizabeth Salah, 23, of Canton, Mass., is charged with driving under the influence of alcohol after a Rhode Island State Police test showed she blew a .411 BAC.

That’s more than five times the legal limit.

State troopers got several 911 calls around 4:40 p.m. Wednesday that a vehicle was driving erratically on I-295 southbound. They located the vehicle and pulled Salah over near Exit 6 (the Route 6 exit).

Troopers said Salah failed all field sobriety tests administered at the scene and displayed obvious signs of intoxication. They took her into custody, Capt. John Allen said Thursday, and took her to state police headquarters in Scituate, where he said they advised her of her rights and she consented to a breath test.

The first test result was a BAC of .411; the second, .391.

Salah was charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, first offense, with a blood alcohol content greater than .15. Troopers released the 23-year-old into the custody of her parents.

She is due back in court April 6.

If she’s convicted of the crime, she could face a fine of $500, 20 to 60 hours of community service, and up to a year in prison; she’d also lose her driver’s license for at least three months, and at most a year and a half. She could also be ordered to get alcohol counseling, or be prohibited from driving a car that doesn’t have an ignition interlock system – which would not allow her to drive without breathing into a tube and getting tested.

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