REDUCE TRAFFIC DEATH DRIVING LOWER DRUNKEN LIMIT TO 0.05 IN NEW YORK CITY
A prestigious scientific panel is recommending that states
significantly lower their drunken driving thresholds as part of a blueprint to
eliminate the "entirely preventable" 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving
deaths in the United States each year.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine says 10,000 alcohol related driving deaths a year are "entirely preventable".
The report also suggests that USA states increase alcohol taxes and reduce both the hours during which alcohol can be sold and the locations where it's sold, Syracuse.com reported.
The amount of alcohol required to reach 0.05 would depend on
several factors, including the person's size and whether the person has
recently eaten. A 150-pound man might be over the 0.05 limit after two beers,
while a 120-pound woman could exceed it after a single drink, according to the
American Beverage Institute, a national restaurant group.
Research suggests that a doubling of alcohol taxes could lead to an 11 percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, according to the report. "Unless there is data that comes out that says that you're impaired below that, I think we should stick with the science".
Currently, driving with a BAC at or higher than 0.08 percent is considered a crime in all states, with penalties varying according to location.
As of now, Utah is the only state to pass a law to lower the threshold to 0.050 but it does not go into effect until December 30 of this year.
"If you don't drink and drive, then the BAC level really becomes a moot issue", he said.
The report also calls for cracking down on sales to people younger than 21 or who are already intoxicated to discourage binge drinking and putting limits on alcohol marketing while funding anti-alcohol campaigns similar to those against smoking. "Looking at BAC levels and how they're measured, you'd have women who could not have one glass of wine and be able to drive a vehicle afterward". Woods said. Each day, 29 people in the US die in alcohol-related crashes.
The report says many strategies have been effective to
prevent drunken driving, but "a coordinated multilevel approach across
multiple sectors will be required to accelerate change."
Rural areas are disproportionately affected. In 2015, 48
percent of drunken driving fatalities occurred in rural areas.
Moreover, people other than the drinking driver account for almost 40 percent of victims in drunk driving crash deaths, the authors noted.
The report says many strategies have been effective to prevent drunken driving, but "a coordinated multilevel approach across multiple sectors will be required to accelerate change".
"The problem isn't intractable", the report says.
Since the 1980s, drunk driving has accounted for one-third of all traffic-related deaths and nearly 40 percent of these fatalities are victims other than the intoxicated driver.
The study estimates that if all states in the country were to effectively implement a 0.05 BAC limit, around 500 to 800 lives would be spared from impaired-driving fatal crashes.
"We still haven't seen a change in DUI fatalities in a couple of decades, so part of the reason we say "well let's take a shot at lowering blood alcohol level again" is it will be a deterrent, and it's been shown in other countries that it does make a difference".
So what does a.05 blood alcohol level equate to?
Since 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board has called on states to reduce the legal BAC for drivers from 0.08 to 0.05.
A group representing the nation's alcoholic beverage makers disagreed, however. "They are more affordable, of far greater variety, and more widely advertised and promoted than in earlier periods", the report said.
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