Legal blood alcohol level for driving lowered to .08
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WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 23, 2000) –
The nation has a new standard for drunk driving as President Clinton, with the support of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, today signed a federal law that will require each state to pass .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as the legal limit or lose a portion of their federal highway funding. Congress passed the .08 BAC measure on October 6, 2000, as part of the Federal Transportation Appropriations Bill.
States have until October 1, 2003, to pass a .08 BAC "per se" law that would meet the provisions of an existing federal incentive grant or face the withholding of 2 percent of their federal highway construction funds, as part of the new .08 law.
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.08 BAC: The Facts
.08 Means Dangerous Impairment
- An average 170-pound man must have four drinks in one hour on an empty stomach to reach a .08 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level. A 137-pound woman would reach .08 BAC after about three drinks in an hour on an empty stomach (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) - a level that exceeds what is commonly accepted as social drinking.
- Regardless of how much alcohol it takes to get to this level, at .08 BAC any driver is a dangerous threat on the road. .08 BAC is the level at which the fatal crash risk significantly increases and virtually everyone is seriously impaired, affecting all of the basic critical driving skills including: braking, steering, lane changing, judgment and response time (NHTSA).
- The risk of a driver being killed in a crash at .08 BAC is at least 11 times that of drivers without alcohol in their system. At .10 BAC the risk is at least 29 times higher (Zador).
- More than 20 percent of alcohol-related traffic deaths involve BAC levels below .10 percent (NHTSA).
.08 Saves Lives
- If every state passed a .08 BAC law, about 500 lives would be saved each year (Hingson, et al).
Point-zero-eight BAC is a proven effective measure to reduce alcohol-related traffic deaths. Studies have shown a 6 to 8 percent reduction in alcohol-related traffic deaths in states following the passage of .08 BAC (MADD).
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