Setting limits, saving lives : the case for .08 BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) laws.

Author(s)
Hutt, K.R.
Year
Abstract

Impaired driving is the most frequently committed violent crime in America. Every 30 minutes, someone in this country dies in an alcohol-related crash. There are four key laws that have been proven effective in the fight against impaired driving: illegal per se, administrative license revocation, zero tolerance, and .08 BAC. This booklet describes the .08 BAC law, and makes the case for adopting it in every state. An illegal per se law makes it illegal to drive with an alcohol concentration measured at or above the established legal level. Forty-eight states have established a per se law. In 35 of those states, the legal limit is .10% blood alcohol concentration. Thirteen other states have established .08 BAC as the legal limit. Lowering the BAC limit to .08 sets the legal limit at a point at which driving skills are proven to be compromised. At .08 BAC, all drivers, even experienced ones, show impairment in driving ability. (A)

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Publication

Library number
981420 ST [electronic version only]
Source

Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Transportation DOT, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NHTSA, 1997, 28 p., 10 ref.; DOT HS 808 524

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This publication is one of our other publications, and part of our extensive collection of road safety literature, that also includes the SWOV publications.