Posted on 05/18/2013 6:30:51 PM PDT by Responsibility2nd
In an effort to cut down on the number of alcohol related accidents, the National Transportation Safety Board wants to lower the legal limit for driving from a 0.08 to 0.05 blood alcohol content in all states. That doesn't mean post-dinner-out driving standards will be more exacting anytime soon, though — indeed, the fight is just now underway, and from some of the most unlikely of people.
~snip~
Of course, the NTSB can't order the state or federal governments to do anything. They can only make recommendations about that one fewer beer. In fact, the recommendation to lower the legal limit isn't even receiving overwhelming support from those who typically campaign against drunk driving. "We don't expect any state to go to .05," said Jonathan Adkins, a (very realistic) Governors Highway Safety Association spokesman. "This recommendation is ludicrous," said Sarah Longwell, the (bottom line-focused) managing director of the American Beverage Institute. Even Mothers Against Drunk Driving — the lobbying group that won a string of victories in getting the national BAC levels in every state down from around 0.15 to 0.08 in the first place — isn't crazy about the new idea. They "would not oppose" the change, as the Times puts it, but ultimately the group supports other potential changes. This is the board "trying to focus on a group of people who are more social drinkers, who haven't been targeted in a while," said MADD rep J.T. Griffin, clearly seeking more widespread efforts on drunk driving.
(Excerpt) Read more at theatlanticwire.com ...
“Be glad you don’t live in Texas. Drunk driving is rampant here. Texas is one of about 10 states that DO NOT have DWI checkpoints.
Our drunk driving fatalties are nearly the highest in the nation.”
hmmmm I wonder why....
Lower the drinking age to ten years old. Not many deaths due to drunk bicycle accidents, just scrapes and bruises. Then, by the time they’re old enough to drive a car, drinking will be so “ten year old like” that they’ll have moved on.
FWIW, in Canada, drunk driving falls under the Criminal Code of Canada (CCC). If your blood alchohol concentration (BAC) is above 0.08% (or 80 milligrams of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood), police will usually charge you with BOTH operating a vehicle while impaired (CCC §253.1) AND operating a vehicle with a BAC in excess of 0.08% (CCC §253.2). I believe that the §253.1 charge is also included, in case §253.2 fails. Both provide identical sentences, a $1000 fine and a 12-month driving prohibition across Canada. Ii is a criminal offence to you refuse the breathalizer, reasulting in sentencing exactly the same as a conviction. Sentences also increase for subsequent convictions and increase if someone is injured or killed.
In addition, each Province has its own administrative license suspensions, where BAC is less than 0.08%. The criteria vary by Province, (ie: reasonable grounds/suspicion of impairment, 0.04, 0.05% BAC) and suspension of license (1st time) for 12, 24, 72 hours; some Provinces increase the suspension for subsequent infractions.
In all cases of a short term suspension, license and keys are taken, and the car is towed to the impound lot. To ‘spring’ the car, keys and license is therefore, a rather expensive proposition!
“Also wonder if deaths would go down if you couldn’t buy cold beer anywhere in the state but had to buy it non-refrigerated from package stores.”
Don’t you think that our country would be better if we just banned all alcohol sales?
Been there, done that. The only long-lasting effect of prohibition was the rise in influence of the bootlegger Kennedy clan. I don't think we really need a new batch of those, do you?
Guess they have not heard of State Hwy 130 which runs north-south parallel to I35 about 15 miles east. From I-10 on the south to US 290 on the north, the posted speed limit is 85.
North of 290, I do not know the limit.
I believe 0.05 is too low. I’m not convinced 0.08 isn’t too low. I’m more of a 0.10 guy, but hey, I could be wrong.
More than the beer, it’s where your head is at when you drink and drive. If you’re serious about driving decently, I know you can do it at 0.10.
That doesn’t mean you should. We have to drive responsibly.
I have driven far worse when sober than I have when I’ve had some drinks.
It has nothing to do with any safety factor. There’s HUGE money collected from DWI/DUI. They need more money in the coffers.
I agree to a certain extent. If there wasn’t a standard set, folks would still be drinking at 0.25. There has to be some intervention IMO.
I’ve seen moves to buffalo the public into accepting guilt ff they are caught driving under the legal limit too. They call it driving under the influence.
I believe I’ve read where folks have had problems with this.
I don’t approve at all.
Why 80? I know a man who still drives to work three days a week at the age of 83. Nothing wrong with him.
People driving at .08 aren’t the problem.
I’ve done drunk driving enforcement ride-alongs and can never remember picking up anyone under .10. .05 might scare some folks into avoiding that third beer, but it won’t do anything to stop the serious drunks who get blotto, then drive the wrong way on the freeway until they hit someone head on.
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And they would fascistcly order states for more enforcement after they would lay down hoses and count the number if vehicles exceeding their limit.
If a state didn’t comply they would hill back Federal highway funds. Hence the atrocious attention on areas such as speeding, seatbelt and cellphone enforcement. So cops aren’t out doing what they want which is to be very visible in their communities as a visible deterrent
Hmmm... Smacks of Utah.
They want to make us all criminals while giving the real criminals the vote.
Ban alcohol? I would hope you’re kidding.
It’s a tolerated practice for people to stop and get a cold one or two or three in a brown bag to drink while driving home from work, probably on an empty stomach, yet we rail about the consequences of people driving while intoxicated.
I don’t care whether people drink or not unless they are doing so while sharing the same stretch of highway that I’m on. I had suggested that one option to consider in thinking about ways to cut down on excessive auto accidents in Texas caused by people who have been drinking while driving is to reduce the access to the cold beer. I have never found warm or hot beer to taste very good, maybe some people have.
My car was totaled by a drunk driver and I have injuries that will remain with me the rest of my life. Cars should be used to take you to and from a destination, not as a phone booth, place to catch up on all your text messages or as a temporary bar. Those activities can wait until you get home.
My question is what is the correlation of driving accidents to persons with a 0.05 blood alcohol content? A person may have some alcohol in their system but the impairment from that alcohol may have not been the cause of the accident. There are things that can happen driving a car whether one is sober or not.
For instance, my daughter was driving her car at 11:00 PM when she rode over a piece of sharp metal bracket. It ripped open her tire and cause her to cross over the center line an into oncoming traffic. Luckily there were no other cars on the road. If this resulted in a deadly crash and my daughter had alcohol in her system, she would have been charged with driving under the influence. If she was over the 0.05 blood alcohol content, she would have had a DWI with the new limit. It also would have been reported as an accident due to alcohol. I am thinking the statistics are lying to promote an agenda.
Doing the taxi or party bus thing isn’t something that’s available in the majority of the US. It must be unique to someone living in an urban area and close to the restaurants and bars.
They call it driving under the influence.
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DUI differs from DWI I think, as it includes pot, alchohol, legal (Rx) and illegal drugs.
I found out many years ago that local cops will do anything to bring in $$. Here, a DWI is a County offense and local police get a kick-back from the County for each one nabbed.
On the way home during an ice storm, I stopped at a pizza place and ordered one to go. While waiting, I had ONE mug of draft beer. The freeway wasn’t crowded and most of us were only driving about 35mph because it was slick. I went around a curve and my SUV slid a bit into the middle lane. ......Yep. Cop pulled me over and arrested me for Public Intoxication, because he knew I wasn’t DWI. ...Night in jail, $85 fine, cost of getting truck out of impound, missing a day of work, etc. ....All for just having one draft beer and local cops being so hell bent on racking up fines on their records.
They should treat consumers of alcohol the same way they do smokers. Ban them from drinking in bars and restaurants and tax the hell out of alcoholic beverages.............
Oops, I almost forgot, sue the hell out of the manufacturers first for all the death and destruction their alcohol products have proven to have caused......
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