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February 18, 1996's Question

What should the legal BAC limit be for adults or should we even have a set BAC limit?

Background Information

For those of you who don't know BAC stands for Blood Alcohol Content and the legal limit in the United states is .10% in most states and .08% in others.

Things to Consider

Pages that might be Helpful


Others Input

From: Bob Morrow <bobm@msn.fullfeed.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Feb 1996 00:18:58 GMT

BAC levels should be like speed limits: at the point where accident
involvement starts to shoot upward, then it's time for action.  In
this example, most people getting tagged for DWI today blow about a
.17 on the BAC scale, well over the .10 (.08) limit. This suggests to
me that the lower BACs are merely getting more people in trouble when
they're not doing anything that seriously endangers themselves or
others.  Sweden has a BAC of .02, but the average driver still blows a
.17 when caught.  It suggests that .17 is a physiological limit,
beyond which motor skills are seriously degraded (and therefore, you
_deserve_ to be stopped)

You can be stopped for DWI even if you have a .03 BAC, regardless of
"per se" laws.  But-few if anyone shows impairment at that level, so
this new federally-mandated .02 BAC for drivers under 21 is a waste of
paper.  It sounds good yet will do little, like most of the laws the
anti-everything people want enacted.


From: James Matthew Mullins, Jr. >mullins@wvnvm.wvnet.edu<
Date: Wed, 21 Feb 1996 23:41:22 GMT

I totally agree with current efforts to reduce the legal BAC limit. A
BAC of 0.08 percent is what occurrs when a 170-pound man consumes, on
an empty stomach, at least four beers in less than one hour while not
eating. That's borderline on binge drinking. Get real!

The second thing is the BAC limit for those under 21. The limit for
those under 21 should be 0.00 percent. This should be the limit for
those under 21 since it is illegal for those under 21 to drink
alcohol. No alcohol will show up on your breath or blood unless it was
consumed. No alcohjol will show up even if you had intimate contact
with someone who was obviously drunk. So it sounds to me like the idea
of raising BAC limits was concocted by someone who has been caught for
DUI at least a few times. Get with it!


From: Richard Rogers <RR2895@student.law.duke.edu>
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 1996 11:53:51 -0500 (EST)

I don't know.  I was thinking that raising it might be right, but
then it snowed this past Thursday night and I rethought that POV
because Thursday is a big party night at Duke.  Maybe the BAC
should be like the speed limit--hard to determine any one right
level, so let it differ from place to place.  I think a lower BAC
in college towns (lots more people drinking) or cities (more
traffic) than you would apply in small towns or rural areas would
be appropriate.  I just don't know what I think the number should
be.

Concerning the under-21 thing, well, although it no longer affects
me I think that the drinking age is too high, so I don't support
a zero BAC.  I also recognize there is a problem in the respect
that people who go to an evening church service may get in trouble
with the cops (theoretically not since you don't take much out of
the cup, but I don't know much about BAC and how it works so I
acknowledge a potential problem).

So why not some sort of 85th-percentile thing on the BAC as well?


From: Cameron Dewe <dewcam@topnz.ac.nz>
Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 19:21:41 -0500 (EST)

For an international perspective, some comments from New Zealand.
Yes there should be Blood Alcohol Limits but the social acceptability
and probability of being caught should be considered also.

The habitual drinking driver should be stopped dead in his tracks,
before he ends up stopping others dead in theirs.

To achive this in New Zealand we have legislation that allows the Police
force to stop and test drivers at random for such things as drinking
and driving. (It is also done for vehicle safety and
registration/licencing)

The test procedure is multilayered and apparently effective.
The law abiding driver is stopped asked to state their name and address
into a Breath Alcohol sniffer which gives a pass or fail result.
If the test is a pass the driver is allowed to continue unimpeded.
A failed test results in a more rigorous and scientific breath 
screening process.
A Blood Sample is only taken if the Driver fails the breath screening
test.  And it is all done at the roadside in a specially designed
"Booze Bus" 

At these Checkpoints almost all drivers are happy to be tested and at
latest reports they pass.  The radio news will often have the results
of the last day or night's checkpoints.  Apparently only 0.1% to 0.5%
of New Zealand drivers now drive with a Blood Alcohol Limit in excess
of 0.08 (The legal limit) (Reduced to 0.03 for inexperienced/learning
drivers = had licence to drive less than 2 years).

The Police force have also changed their attitude at these checkpoints
Generally, they are friendly and helpful.  They are there to do the job
with a minimum of inconveience and delay.  They don't nitpick.
And they appear to want to stop everyone but not hold them up!
(Pull in here, no queue, no waiting, test, pass, free to go.)
Police attitude really helps to enforce the law reasonably.  

This together with an agressive and graphic TV advertising campaign 
appear to have resulted in the lowest annual road toll in 30 years!.
Just a final note on the messages in TV advertising.
"Don't drink and drive" => "If you drink and drive your a bloody idiot"
 and => "One way or another you will be stopped" 
 also  => "Country People Die on Country Roads" (Rural DWI Problem)
 and also => "Any where, Any place, Any time." (Police Random Stopping
Policy)

"Speed Kills" => "SLOW DOWN" 

The TV commercials are literally hard hitting and show the cause and
effect of drinking and driving or driving too fast.  There is a lot of
blood and dead people in several commercials.  One commercial is even
made in 2 versions to avoid too much gratuitous violence on prime time
children's television.  The (slightly) more graphic commercials tend to
appear after 8:30 pm.  But they all tend to give an uncomfortable feeling.

A responsible attitude to Alcohol and Driving should be held by every
driver.  Unfortunately, a tiny minority make it extremely dangerous
for the vast majority.  That is why Blood Alcohol Limits exist.  The
Public Demand something to be done and Politicians keep on doing it
 until the public demand for moderation becomes a outcry.  Until the
accident statistics have "lack of alcohol in the blood" as a significant
contributing factor to a motor vehicle crash, or the enforcement regeime
becomes oppressive, or too expensive, the politicians will always 
try to lower the blood alcohol limit.

After all those who DO drink and then drive ARE BLOODY IDIOTS,
and BLOOD and IDIOTS are two things that should not be on the road
anywhere in the world.


From: andrew@clark.net
Date: Sat, 16 Mar 1996 02:07:56 -0500 (EST)

i think bac levels should stay low. too many people drive while under
the influence and they see nothing wrong with it.  it is a dangerous
thing to do not only for yourself but for everyother driver, and
pedestrian on the roads.  drunk driving should not be tolerated!!


From:  mjmadde@AOL.com
Date: Sat, 9 Mar 1996 11:03:30 -0500 (EST)

BAC limits should be .08 for adults! .00 for under 21! We must move
away from the notion "I'm OK to drive, I've only had a few!" etc. etc.
We neither permit or even seriously contend that bus drivers, train
engineers/drivers, motormen, pilots etc. have alcohol in their systems
when they are working! Logically, there is no reason it should be
permitted when one is behind the wheel of a very powerful instrument! 

Your Input

I am still excepting responses even though it is no longer the current question.
So what do you think?

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