Merits of a .08 BAC per se law for adult drivers
By: Drivers.com staff
Date: 1999-09-09
From the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) recommends that all states and District of Columbia establish .08 BAC as the legal limit per se for drivers aged 21 and older for the following reasons:
(1) Virtually all drivers are substantially impaired at .08 BAC. Laboratory and test track research shows that the vast majority of drivers, even experienced drinkers, are impaired at .08 with regard to critical driving tasks. There are significant decrements in performance in areas such as braking, steering, lane changing, judgment and divided attention at .08 BAC. Studies report that performance decrements in some of these tasks are as high as 60%-70% at .08 BAC.
(2) The risk of being involved in a crash increases substantially by. 08 BAC. The risk of being in a crash gradually increases at each BAC level, but rises very rapidly after a driver reaches or exceeds .08 BAC compared to drivers with no alcohol in their blood systems. Research by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety indicates that the relative risk of being killed in a single vehicle crash for drivers at BACs between .05 and .09 is 11 times that of drivers at .00 BAC (no alcohol).
(3) Lowering the per se limit is a proven effective countermeasure
which will reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities. There is evidence from
California that significant reductions in alcohol-related fatalities occurred
in 1990 (a 12% reduction), the year .08 and an administrative license revocation
law went into effect. A study by Boston University compared five states that
lowered their illegal limit from .10 to .09 with five states that did not do
so. They found a 16% reduction in the proportion of fatal crashes involving
fatally injured drivers whose BACS were .08 or higher in the five .08 states.
That same study showed an 18% reduction in the proportion of fatal crashes
involving fatally injured drivers at very high BACs (.15 or higher) in those
.08 states.
A 1995 NHTSA study found significant decreases in four states that adopted
.08 on nine measures of alcohol-related fatalities. Decreases in alcohol-related
fatalities ranged from 4% to 40% in those states analyzed.
(4) .08 is a reasonable level to set the limit. A .08 BAC is not typically reached with a couple of beers after work or a glass or two of wine with dinner. The average 170 pound male would have to consume more than four 12 oz. cans of beer within 1 hour on an empty stomach to reach .08 BAC, The average 137 pound female would need at least three cans of beer in one hour on an empty stomach to reach that level. That female driver would need 4 equivalent drinks over a 2-hour period to get above .08 BAC, and the male would need 5 equivalent drinks.
(5) The public supports levels below .10 BAC. NHTSA surveys show that most people would not drive after consuming 2 or 3 drinks in an hour and believe the limit should be no higher than that. Recent polls show that 2 out of every 3 Americans favor lowering the limit to .08 when they are aware of how much alcohol it takes to reach that level,
(6) Most other industrialized nations have set BAC limits at. 08 or lower and have had these laws in place for many years. For example. Canada and Great Britain set their limits at .08--as do Austria and Switzerland. All States in Australia now have a .05 limit. France and Germany recently lowered their limit to .05, while Sweden's illegal limit is .02 BAC.
Questions and answers about lowering the legal BAC limit
Question: Is there evidence that lowering the illegal limit from .10 BAC to .08 BAC has been effective in reducing alcohol-related crashes?
Answer: Four studies to date have evaluated the effects of 08 laws in the U. S . Each study has shown that Lowering the illegal BAC limit to .08 was associated with significant reductions in alcohol-related fatal crashes, These reductions ranged from 4-7% in some studies up to 16-18% in a more recent study. Two of the studies were sponsored by NHTSA.
Question: Doesn't a .08 law target "social drinkers" instead of the high-BAC alcohol abuser?
Answer: 08 is not social drinking. It takes quite a bit of alcohol for one to reach a .08 BAC-over 4 cans of beer consumed in one hour on an empty stomach for a typical 170 lb male; 3 beers for a 137 lb female. Studies also show that .08 laws affect all drinking drivers, both those who reach very high BACs (.15 BAC or greater) and those who reach lower BACS.
Question: Under a .08 law, wouldn't a 120 lb woman who has two glasses of wine in a two-hour period reach. 08 BAC and be subject to arrest, fines, jail, higher insurance rates and license revocation if pulled over at a "sobriety checkpoint? "
Answer: The two glasses of wine referred to would be 6 oz of wine with 13% alcohol. This is equivalent to almost three cans of regular beer with 5% alcohol. But, no matter how many drinks it takes to reach .08 BAC, everyone is impaired with regard to critical driving tasks at this level-even experienced drinkers. These include braking, steering, lane changing, judgment and divided attention.
Question: Won't a .08 BAC law diminish efforts to deal with the real problem-the hard core drinking drivers with very high BACS?
Answer: While .08 laws result in a slight increase in DWI arrests, there is no evidence that .08 BAC laws overburden the police or clog up the courts with DWI cases.
NHTSA continues to attack the impaired driving problem from all angles. A .08 law is just one of many laws and programs that NHTSA is encouraging states to adopt.
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