Lower BAC limit would reduce DWI fatalities
Jackson Shedelbower’s June 7 commentary “Bill to lower legal blood-alcohol limit is political theater,” is dismissive of this way to lower DWI fatality rates.
Such dismissiveness is a main reason for the lack of progress.
Remove Intoxicated Drivers
has advocated for a lower BAC since Surgeon General C. Everett Koop recommended it as a health policy in 1984. Back then, no studies existed showing how .05 saves lives without negatively impacting alcohol sales.
Now, decades later, there are copious studies proving that reality.
Koop issued warnings that a person begins to lose their peripheral vision at a .02
BAC. This impairment greatly impacts one’s ability to drive safely. The alcohol industry has done great harm by misinforming the public that it’s OK to drive at a .05 BAC and that one drink will get a person to a .05 BAC. These myths have been an economic strategy to alarm the public so they will resist lowering the BAC.
Today, there’s more data than ever that debunk Shedelbower’s claims. These false campaigns by the alcohol industry make it difficult to educate the public on safe driving measures. As a rep for the alcohol industry, Shedelbower’s claims are compromised by his conflict of interest. Look to the studies from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine for information on .05.
William Aiken Schenectady President, Remove Intoxicated Drivers