Federal,Government,Introduces, car Federal Government Introduces Reduced Drunk Driving Limits
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In an attempt to limit automobile accidents caused bydrivers under the influence of alcohol, the National Transportation SafetyBoard has introduced a new recommendation to lower the legal blood alcohollimit from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. The proposal, which would require theapproval of Congress and state legislatures to implement, would significantlyreduce the acceptable amount of alcohol drivers could consume before taking tothe wheel. For a medium-sized male, the limit would drop to just two drinks perhour. For smaller women, anything beyond a single drink per hour could tip thescale.Impaired driving remains one of the biggest killers in theUnited States, says Debbie Hersman, Chairwoman from the NTSB. We must askourselves 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, sparkinga nationwide conversation on what is and is not acceptable for drivers toconsume.By reducing the legal limit, the NTSB believes as many as 500to 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 theinfluence of alcohol. In many states, drivers slightly below the 0.08 percentlimit can already be found guilty of driving under the influence if theirdriving proves overly dangerous, or if other sobriety tests are failed. Accordingto research testing from the federal agency, drivers with a 0.05 percent bloodalcohol level remain 38% more likely to fall victim to an accident thancompletely sober drivers, making them a serious risk to others. Even at minorintoxication levels, reaction times are reduced, and drivers are more likely tofall asleep behind the wheel. Corroborating the NTSBs proposal are more than 100 othercountries around the world that have already lowered their legal limits to 0.05percent or lower, such as Ireland, which recently enacted the change. InAustralia, traffic fatalities have dropped an estimated 8 to 18% as a result oftheir lowered alcohol limits. The US is virtually alone in its 0.08 percentlimit, says NTSB Project Manager Jana Price, We need to take the next step.Fighting against the proposed decrease is a litany ofprivate and public organizations, including the Governors Highway SafetyAssociation, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and the American BeverageInstitute, which called the recommendation ludicrous. Moving from 0.08 to0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior, says Sarah Longwell,managing director of the ABI. Further restricting the moderate consumption ofalcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hardcoredrunk drivers from getting behind the wheel. According to a recent studyperformed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 5% of driverson the road today have a blood alcohol level of 0.05 percent or above.We dont expect any state to adopt 0.05 at this point,adds Jonathan Adkins, a spokesman for the GHSA, who noted that the transitionfrom .10 to .08 percent took two decades to complete. We dont hear any senseof a groundswell of support. Getting from .10 to .08 was very difficult, so wedont think state legislatures will want to reopen this.Nevertheless,the NHTSA is optimistic that their recommendation will eventually come intocurrency. Its going to take political will and action, says board memberRobert Sumwalt. Its going to happen. Dont know how long it will take, but itwill happen, adds Robert Molloy, a report development division chief at the agency.Given the lengthy battle required to implement the previous reduction, anychanges are likely to take years. The ultimate goal of the reduction is toencourage drivers to avoid driving under any level of influence of drugs oralcohol. For such a goal to be achieved, drivers must make a conscious effortto avoid alcohol before taking to the wheel. Until then, efforts byorganizations like the NTSB and NHTSA and law enforcement agencies are neededto help curb the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Federal,Government,Introduces,