Lower DUI level idea not popular
May 15, 2013
Reaction has been swift and largely negative to a federal proposition to lower blood alcohol standards for drunken driving enforcement. (San Jose Mercury News)
Members of the National Transportation Safety Board voted unanimously this week to propose a limit of .05 blood alcohol, significantly lower than the current norm in most states of .08.
Officials of a restaurant trade association boasting more than 8,000 members, the American Beverage Institute, said in a statement that lowering the limit places undue burdens on moderate drinkers and depletes law enforcement efforts aimed at serious drunken drivers.
“This recommendation is ludicrous. Moving from .08 to .05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior,” said Sarah Longwell, managing director of the organization.
Jonathan Adkins, spokesman for the Governors Highway Safety Association, told reporters he doesn’t expect individual states to follow the lower-level recommendation.
“We agree with the recommendations in general, but .08 is the law of the land, and it was already difficult to get to that point,” he said.
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