Blood Alcohol Limit For Drivers Should Be Lowered To 0.05 Percent: NTSB

[The Straight Story]

WASHINGTON, May 14 (Reuters) - The top U.S. transportation safety agency voted on Tuesday to recommend a lower blood alcohol limit for drivers, advancing its campaign to cut down on drinking-related road deaths through a stricter definition of impairment.

At a meeting in Washington, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) called on state authorities to reduce the legal limit by nearly 40 percent to 0.05 percent. All 50 U.S. states now have a blood alcohol content (BAC) limit of 0.08 percent for drivers aged 21 and over, and younger drivers are held to stricter standards.

The NTSB has no authority to change the state laws but its backing of the lower limit could add pressure on regulators to adopt the 0.05 percent rule.

The federal agency has launched a "Reaching Zero" campaign to help avert alcohol-related accidents and increase public awareness about the dangers of drinking and driving.

Alcohol-impaired driving causes an estimated 10,000 deaths per year in the United States, making up 30 percent of all U.S. highway deaths, according to the NTSB. In a 2011 survey by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, more than 14 percent of U.S. drivers admitted to driving when they thought they were close to or over the legal limit. (Reporting by Laura MacInnis; Editing by Vicki Allen)

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/14/blood-alcohol-limit-drivers_n_3273548.html

[villager]

1. "We need a way for courts and police forces to start collecting more revenue" -- NTSB

n/t

[Aerows]

14. Exactly what this is about

If they think it can fill more jail cells, they'd make eating a Big Mac illegal.

This is all about filling more jail cells.

[DJ13]

2. Bull

Shit

[hlthe2b]

3. No way I'm going to defend drinking and driving and I rarely drink at all...

(too many damned calories--LOL). For some time, I've thought the only way to drink was to stay home and if holding a party, to make sure you have guest accommodations for all (and make it clear that is the expectation, a la the "Big Chill"...


That said, this does seem very low...

[SoCalMusicLover]

4. They Need The Money

So now even 1 beer or a single glass of wine would easily put someone at .05.

[Robb]

5. Amusingly, I blow about that nearly all the time.

And I haven't had even a glass of wine in probably six months.

Low-carb diet. Ketones. It's a thing; I confirmed it with a friend's little BAC blower deal a few weeks ago. I wouldn't be able to start a vehicle with an interlock on it.

[The Straight Story]

6. Can I breathe what exhale by convection?

Cheaper than beer

[Robb]

8. If only I could heat my house with it.

Mrs. Robb, who is also a bit of a super taster, claims I smell ever so slightly as if I tied a few on the night before.

[backscatter712]

7. With this, a lot of people will be guilty of DUI after just one glass of wine.

I think that's extreme. I'm fine with the current limit of 0.08.

[tech3149]

9. As someone who spent my entire working life on the road who likes his liquor, I'm torn

I've seen the deterioration of driving skills in general over the last few decades. The cars are now so easy to drive that the only thing that I can put my finger on as a cause is lack of attention and distraction. If the average driver I see on the roads is any indication any reduction in BAC is welcome but I doubt it will have even a modest effect.

As someone who likes his liquor, I don't think BAC is a hard and fast measure of impairment or inability to drive safely. I and others I have known have over the years driven safely at well above the legal limit. There are many factors that affect your ability to function at varied levels of blood alcohol content.
What is your competency performing the skill at a baseline?
How accustomed are you to perform at a competent level while being impaired no matter the cause?
How familiar are you with the condition of impairment to judge your ability?

I doubt that there's anyone reading this that can't think of at least one news story of someone doing outrageous things with a BAC of two or three times the legal limit. On the other side of the argument are the stories of someone pulled over at a sobriety checkpoint and charged with DUI while they were operating the vehicle safely and competently.

Following the precautionary principle would suggest that no level of impairment is acceptable but there are people I would not share the road with if they were stone-cold sober.

[Aerows]

20. Talking on a cell phone

I wouldn't trust anyone driving under the influence of chit chatting on a cell phone, drunk or not. I'd take a drunk driver over one paying more attention to the person on the phone.

[Logical]

10. Bullshit! More money for the police and lawyers! n-t

[ieoeja]

11. Back in the mid to late 80s, when the limits were between .12 and .15 ...

... I interviewed with an insurance lobby organization.

HIM: What do you suppose we spend most of our money on.
ME: Drunk driving.

HIM: Yes. And why do you suppose we do that?
ME: To cut down on payments you have to make for accidents caused by drunk drivers.

HIM: Wrong. According to our statisticians alcohol is definitely responsible for about 5% of traffic fatalities. The real numbers are probably double or triple that number.
ME: But everyone keeps saying it is 50%?

HIM: If we ignore all other factors like weather and time of day, then we can get that 50% number.
ME: So why are you are trying to stop drinking and driving?

HIM: Two reasons. First, a few years ago consumer groups would fight against us when we tried forcing higher rates on drinkers. Today, we have them convinced that higher rates are part of their justly deserved punishment.
ME: What about insurance companies that drop drunk drivers?

HIM: When a company drops a drunk driver, they always recommend some high-option insurance company to their former customer. Of course, both insurance companies are owned by the same people!
ME: Ah.

HIM: Then there is the second reason. Every time we get a state to lower the BAC level, a whole new batch of drivers who were ineligible for that high option insurance 24 hours earlier are suddenly driving illegal! So the companies get to double down on this.



Then a few years ago I saw a notice of a holiday crackdown in which the police stated that no taxpayer money would be wasted as holiday pay was being donated by such-and-such group. So I looked into that group and, bingo, their funding was almost exclusively provided by insurance companies. Making our police on those holiday weekends effectively working as hired mercenaries.


I also have a theory that the MADDness played a part in the death of populism in rural regions. Traditionally, there have been two major areas where people got together to discuss the issues of the day: churches and bars. In rural regions where there are no taxis and no public transportation, bars were really hard hit. The town near the farm where I grew up now has slightly less than half the number of bars it had in the 1970s. While the number of churches has doubled with all the new churches being fundie.

So churches have become far more the center of society than before Reagan and MADD. While liberals like my parents reached a point where they rarely interacted with anyone outside the home after dark. Because when the sun went down the police start to roam the streets.

[Egalitarian Thug]

12. This is a very lucrative revenue stream, and as such, must be expanded. n/t

[cloudbase]

13. I can legally pilot an airplane at < .04. n/t

[G_j]

15. meanwhile there are people driving on every med

imaginable.

[Aerows]

18. Or blabbing on a cell phone

and not paying attention. That's worse by far, in my opinion. In the last 5 years, all three of my family members have been rear-ended by people that are on a cell phone and not paying attention.

[RiffRandell]

23. And texting. n/t

[Aerows]

16. I'd prefer that they make

yacking on a cell phone illegal, first. Every single time I've, or a family member, has been in an accident it's due to some idiot talking on a cell phone. Three times we all got rear ended because someone was too busy talking to drive.

That's a lot more dangerous than a few percentage points of being intoxicated.

[LondonReign2]

17. Personally, I can't wait for the Google self-driving car to be viable

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play;_ylt=A2KLqIWnrZJRwxQAwRD7w8QF;_ylu=X3oDMTBvbjdlcmd2BHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDdmlkBHZ0aWQDVjE0NA--?p=google+car+drives+itself&vid=77fc42d3eaede568a891f40dcd4ad404&l=3%3A23&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DV.4849195164503087%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D-nYhKD8leAg&tit=Google+Car%3A+It+Drives+Itself+-+ABC+News&c=0&sigr=11ai5d600&age=0&&tt=b

[Mosby]

19. they must not of talked to the police unions

because some cops are permitted to have a nice buzz at work, per the union contract.

http://www.nbcchicago.com/investigations/Many-Suburban-Cops-Allowed-To-Work-Half-Drunk-191296021.html

[Aerows]

22. It's okay for them

For you, it's lucrative to put you in a cell.

[RiffRandell]

21. Complete bullshit.

No fucking way.

[markiv]

24. I think restaurant/bar associations will stop it

.08, you have to be really carefull, .05, it's really not prudent to drink at all and drive within a couple of hours - this is a larger drop than the last one, and percentage wise it's MUCH larger drop

.01 can be lost by factor in your body

another .01 or more can be lost to police bac machine colibration.

that takes you down to .03 to be anywhere safe - no prudent driver will risk it

drinks are a huge part of revenue for restaurants and obviously, bars

a lot of people who want a glass of wine with their dinners are just going to stay home

the lost customers and lower tabs will hit them hard, and they will fight - Herman Cain of all people led the fight against the drop to .08

I frankly dont care what they do, I will just adapt