In an attempt to limit automobile accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol, the National Transportation Safety Board has introduced a new recommendation to lower the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent.
In an attempt to limit automobile accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol, the National Transportation Safety Board has introduced a new recommendation to lower the legal blood alcohol limit from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. The proposal, which would require the approval of Congress and state legislatures to implement, would significantly reduce the acceptable amount of alcohol drivers could consume before taking to the wheel. For a medium-sized male, the limit would drop to just two drinks per hour. For smaller women, anything beyond a single drink per hour could tip the scale.
“Impaired driving remains one of the biggest killers in the United States,” says Debbie Hersman, Chairwoman from the NTSB. “We must ask ourselves what more can be done.” Though substantial opposition is anticipated, the safety board passed the proposal earlier this week by a vote of 5 to 0, sparking a nationwide conversation on what is and is not acceptable for drivers to consume.
By reducing the legal limit, the NTSB believes as many as 500 to 800 lives could be saved each year. In 2011, 31% of all traffic fatalities, 9,874, along with more than 170,000 injuries, were caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol. In many states, drivers slightly below the 0.08 percent limit can already be found guilty of driving under the influence if their driving proves overly dangerous, or if other sobriety tests are failed. According to research testing from the federal agency, drivers with a 0.05 percent blood alcohol level remain 38% more likely to fall victim to an accident than completely sober drivers, making them a serious risk to others. Even at minor intoxication levels, reaction times are reduced, and drivers are more likely to fall asleep behind the wheel.
Corroborating the NTSB’s proposal are more than 100 other countries around the world that have already lowered their legal limits to 0.05 percent or lower, such as Ireland, which recently enacted the change. In Australia, traffic fatalities have dropped an estimated 8 to 18% as a result of their lowered alcohol limits. The US is “virtually alone” in its 0.08 percent limit, says NTSB Project Manager Jana Price, “We need to take the next step.”
Fighting against the proposed decrease is a litany of private and public organizations, including the Governors Highway Safety Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the American Beverage Institute, which called the recommendation “ludicrous”. “Moving from 0.08 to 0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior,” says Sarah Longwell, managing director of the ABI. “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.” According to a recent study performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5% of drivers on the road today have a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent or above.
“We don’t expect any state to adopt 0.05 at this point,” adds Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the GHSA, who noted that the transition from .10 to .08 percent took two decades to complete. “We don’t hear any sense of a groundswell of support. Getting from .10 to .08 was very difficult, so we don’t think state legislatures will want to reopen this.”
Nevertheless, the NHTSA is optimistic that their recommendation will eventually come into currency. “It’s going to take political will and action,” says board member Robert Sumwalt. “It’s going to happen. Don’t know how long it will take, but it will happen,” adds Robert Molloy, a report development division chief at the agency. Given the lengthy battle required to implement the previous reduction, any changes are likely to take years. The ultimate goal of the reduction is to encourage drivers to avoid driving under any level of influence of drugs or alcohol. For such a goal to be achieved, drivers must make a conscious effort to avoid alcohol before taking to the wheel. Until then, efforts by organizations like the NTSB and NHTSA and law enforcement agencies are needed to help curb the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol.
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