Rep. Nita Lowey and Sen. Frank Lautenberg proposed legislation that will have.
make any state that does not lower their drunk driving blood alcohol limit from .10 % to.
08 % to lose their federal highway funds. Companion legislation would withhold federal.
funds for states that fail to adopt a series of mandatory minimum penalties for.
alcohol-related crimes. 13 States now have the .08% , the rest are .10% (except two.
which have no limit). [3].
The "Safe and Sober Streets Act of 1997" sets a national illegal Blood Alcohol.
Content (BAC) limit of .08 percent for drivers age 21 and over. Modeled after Senator.
Frank R. Lautenberg's 1984 law establishing 21 as the national drinking age, the bill gives.
states that have a limit above .08 BAC, three years to adopt .08 laws. States that fail to.
enact this limit will lose a percentage of their highway construction funds - five percent.
the first year, ten percent in the first year, and 10 percent each year after. [3].
Currently, each state sets its own legal "Blood Alcohol Concentration," or BAC.
level, but only 15 states have passed .08 BAC laws. Drunk driving has decreased in.
those states. [3].
For a 170 lb. male, roughly four and a half drinks in one hour on an empty.
stomach will boost his blood alcohol level to .08. For a 137 lb. woman, it would take.
over three drinks in one hour on an empty stomach to boost her blood alcohol level to.
08. [3].
In 1996, there were 17,126 fatalities from alcohol related crashes. 41 percent of.
all traffic fatalities are alcohol-related. Of those, 9 percent -- or nearly 4,000 deaths --.
involved drivers who were under .10 BAC (the legal limit in 35 states). [3].
A study published in the American Journal of Public Health concluded that if.
all states adopted .08 BAC laws, there would be 500 - 600 fewer fatal crashes each.
year. [3].
It is at .08 BAC -- not .10 BAC -- that a person is impaired. His/her vision,.
balance, reaction time and hearing, judgment and self-control are seriously affected.
