While no one is going to support drinking and driving, people still do it. Weather it is intentional or not. Everyone in the United States is knows the number 0.08. It is the BAC (blood alcohol concentration) level that marks the definition of impairment.
If you were to get arrested with a BAC of .08 or above, you will face serious charges in not all but most states which would include fines and jail time, but if the DUI limit was lowered to a least 0.05 I believe would reduce a significant percentage of injuries, deaths, and crashes.
In May 2014, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended lowering the legal limit to .05. A press release made public its organization’s position: “research … showed that although impairment begins with the first drink, by 0.05 BAC, most drivers experience a decline in both cognitive and visual functions, which significantly increases the risk of a serious crash.
” After the announcement, all fifty states were recommended to lower the DUI Limit to 0.05. The Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation organization published a review on BAC limits.
Their review supports the NTSB’s recommendation. The PIRE studies pointed out a convincing four facts for lowering the current DUI limit 0.08 to .05. 1) Virtually all drivers lose some driving ability at a BAC of .05, 2) the risk of being involved in a crash increases at that BAC level.
3) if there is a crash, the risk of being killed in it also increases if the driver is at the .05 level, 4) Lowering the limit has been effective in many countries. While there are lots of agreements to lowering the DUI limit to .05, there are still some organization and people themselves who disagree with lowering the DUI limit. A few years ago, the National Transportation Safety Board voted to recommend to states that they lower the limit. None have followed up yet. Owner of Moe’s Burger and Brews, Mark Mueller told CNN “It’s pretty low the way it is,””I don’t think going to 0.05 will do any good.
” Mark is not the only one who thinks lowering the limit would do no good. Research shows that using a cell phone even if it is hands free impairs a driver as much as having a BAC of .08.
It’s unreasonable to focus on drivers with low blood alcohol control. Dismissing more dangerous driving habits as harmless.Sarah Longwell, managing director of American Beverage Institute told NBC News stated “This recommendation is ludicrous. Moving from 0.
08 to 0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior. Further restricting the moderate consumption of alcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hardcore drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.”The rate of most of Australia and Europe is .05 percent.There are several reasons to lowering the blood alcohol limit, but of course the biggest reason is putting a stop to people drinking and driving.
That’s why, (even though not one state lowered the blood alcohol limit, the NTSB is back to try again. The NTSB’s full law changing process would require a combination of stronger laws, expanding use of technology to prevent the grim, and swiffer enforcement. Lowering the legal limit to 0.05 BAC or possibly lower could protect up to 2,000 lives annually, reduce unlimited injuries and save billions in associated costs.
Over 100 countries have been lowered their legal BAC limits to 0.05 and some even lower 0.05 with proven results of reduction in deaths and injuries while the United States still lags behind.
Blood alcohol levels higher than 0.05 increase the risk of crash significantly. Even at 0.05, the chances of killing or being killed behind the wheel are 38 percent greater than driving sober, because at that level most drivers have impaired alertness, vision and responsiveness.With all the pros and cons, the United States of America still has not lowered the illegal DUI limit. To this day 0.
08 is still the limit. We are still lagging behind other countries, and no reduction has happened as far as deaths or injuries in car crashes. Hopefully the NTSB can soon change the law to at least 0.05.
