Alkohol am Steuer: Drink Driving Limits and Penalties in Austria

Driving in Austria with alcohol in the system is governed mainly by two Acts working together: the Straßenverkehrsordnung 1960 (StVO), which sets the alcohol limits and the fine tiers, and the Führerscheingesetz (FSG), which governs the driving licence and how long it can be withdrawn. Together the rules are commonly referred to as Alkohol am Steuer, drink driving, and they apply to every driver on Austrian roads, including visitors and cross border commuters.

This page sets out the current blood and breath alcohol limits, the fine amounts and minimum licence withdrawal periods that apply once a driver measures above 0,5 per mille, and what happens if a driver refuses the test. It also explains how a lower tier drink driving offence interacts with Austria's Vormerksystem, the separate strike list for a defined group of serious traffic offences.

Information last verified on 22 July 2026. This page provides general legal information about Austrian law and does not constitute legal advice in an individual case.

The alcohol limits under Austrian law

The general limit for most drivers is set out in § 14 Abs 8 FSG: a vehicle may only be put into operation or driven where the driver's blood alcohol content is below 0,5 per mille, or breath alcohol content is below 0,25 mg per litre. Driving above this limit is an offence in its own right, before any of the higher fine tiers below come into play.

§ 5 Abs 1 StVO adds a separate, higher threshold: at 0,8 per mille blood alcohol, or 0,4 mg per litre breath alcohol, the law treats the driver as definitely impaired by alcohol (jedenfalls beeinträchtigt). This threshold does not create a third limit on its own. It matters because it is the dividing line the fine tiers below are built around.

Two groups of drivers face a stricter 0,1 per mille limit rather than the general 0,5 per mille limit. The first is any driver still in the Probezeit, the three year probationary period that follows a first licence, under § 4 Abs 7 FSG. The second is a driver holding a Class C or Class D licence while driving a vehicle of that class, a rule aimed at professional and commercial drivers, under § 20 Abs 4 FSG.

Fine tiers and minimum licence withdrawal

Above the general 0,5 per mille limit, both the fine and the minimum period the licence is withdrawn increase in defined bands. The table below sets out the four tiers as they stand under § 99 StVO and § 37a FSG, with the minimum Entziehungsdauer (licence withdrawal period) for a first offence from § 26 FSG.

A worked example: a driver measured at 1,3 per mille falls into the 1,2 up to below 1,6 per mille tier. On a first offence the fine ranges from €1,200 to €4,400 under § 99 Abs 1a StVO, and the licence is withdrawn for at least 4 months under § 26 Abs 2 Z 4 FSG. A driver measured at 1,7 per mille, or one who declines the test altogether, instead falls under § 99 Abs 1 StVO: a fine of €1,600 to €5,900 and a minimum 6 month withdrawal.

For a first offence in the 0,8 up to below 1,2 per mille tier, § 26 Abs 1 FSG sets a fixed minimum licence withdrawal of at least 1 month, so long as the driver was not driving a Class C or D vehicle in that class and has no earlier qualifying offence under § 7 Abs 3 Z 1 or 2 FSG. Unlike the 0,5 up to below 0,8 per mille tier, this band is not a Vormerkdelikt, it carries its own fixed statutory minimum instead.

The 1 month minimum rises to at least 3 months where the offence involved a traffic accident, and separate rules apply to a Class C or D licence holder driving that vehicle class at the time. A driver facing an offence in this tier should still get current, case specific advice, since those narrower circumstances can change the outcome, but the licence withdrawal itself is a fixed statutory minimum rather than a discretionary practice question.

Separately, § 25 Abs 3 FSG sets a general floor of at least 3 months for any licence withdrawal ordered on grounds of lacking driving reliability, and adds 2 weeks for every Vormerkung already recorded against the driver. This floor and the Vormerkung add on apply alongside the tier specific minimums above.

Why these fine amounts carry a specific verification date

The euro fine amounts in the table above are the amounts set out in § 99 StVO in the version that took effect on 1 May 2026, following the amendment under BGBl. I Nr. 17/2026. § 99 StVO's fine amounts have been revised more than once in recent years. Anyone relying on this page for an exact euro figure, particularly some time after this verification date, should confirm the amount is still current directly on ris.bka.gv.at before treating it as final.

Repeat offences within 5 years

§ 26 Abs 2 FSG also sets higher minimum withdrawal periods where a driver commits a further qualifying offence within 5 years of an earlier one. The main repeat combinations are set out below.

These minimums replace the first offence figures in the earlier table once the 5 year repeat window applies; they do not stack on top of them.

Refusing the breath or blood alcohol test

A driver stopped by police can be required to take a breath test using an Alkomat, and in some circumstances a blood test. Refusing the test is not a way to avoid the drink driving penalty. § 99 Abs 1 StVO treats refusal the same as measuring 1,6 per mille or above: the same fine range of €1,600 to €5,900, and the same minimum 6 month licence withdrawal under § 26 Abs 2 Z 1 FSG, both apply.

The practical effect is that a driver who is genuinely below the general limit but refuses the test can end up worse off than a driver who tests positive at a lower tier. There is no legal advantage to declining the test.

Drink driving and the Vormerksystem

The lower tiers of drink driving also fall within Austria's Vormerksystem, the separate strike list for a defined group of serious traffic offences; see driving ban and points for how that system works more generally. A § 14 Abs 8 FSG offence in the 0,5 up to below 0,8 per mille range is one of the offences on that list under § 30a Abs 2 Z 1 FSG, so it results in a Vormerkung, a formal entry, even where the fine itself does not carry an automatic licence withdrawal.

A second qualifying offence committed within the relevant window, normally 2 years and extended to 3 years if a second offence falls inside the first 2, triggers a mandatory besondere Maßnahme, typically a driver safety training course, under § 30b FSG. A third qualifying offence leads to a finding that the driver is no longer verkehrszuverlässig, and the licence is withdrawn under § 7 Abs 3 Z 14 FSG, independent of any further alcohol offence.

How a drink driving fine is actually issued

A lower tier drink driving case is not typically settled on the spot. Because both § 37a FSG and § 99 StVO carry fines well above the cap for an Organstrafverfügung, a drink driving case proceeds through a Strafverfügung or the ordinary administrative penalty procedure rather than an on the spot ticket. See on the spot fines for how that broader escalation ladder works for lower level traffic offences, and how to object to a Strafverfügung once one is issued.