UTAH EYES LOWEST OUI LEVEL
Drunken-driving fatalities nearly doubled between ’13 and ’14
Utah is on the verge of becoming the first state to lower the maximum legal blood-alcohol content for drivers to 0.05 percent.
Lawmakers in the state passed a measure last week to lower the limit from 0.08 percent. Currently, all 50 states have a 0.08 percent cap.
The National Transportation Safety Board has called on states for years to redefine what constitutes drunken driving. The legislation is expected to be signed by Republican Gov. Gary R. Herbert.
“The time was long overdue for this,” said state Rep. Norman Thurston, a Republican, who championed the legislation. “This is about behavior and we hope that other states take a close look and move in a similar direction.”
In Utah, which has long held a tense relationship with alcohol — Mormons make up 60 percent of the state population and are not supposed to drink alcohol — lawmakers this session addressed a few proposals focused on regulation. They include, among other things, the new blood-alcohol level and how beers and cocktails are prepared at restaurants.
For Thurston, lowering the blood-alcohol limit is about public safety.
The NTSB push to lower the threshold for drunken driving was highlighted in a 2013 report that noted that fatal crashes decreased 18 percent in Queensland and 8 percent in New South Wales after those Australian states lowered their blood-alcohol limits.
Deaths related to drunken driving nearly doubled in Utah between 2013 and 2014, increasing from 23 to 45. Conversely, drunken driving fatalities nationally have fallen by a third in the past three decades, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Nationally, 28 people die every day in motor vehicle crashes involving an alcohol-impaired driver, according to the agency.
Still, some critics of the Utah legislation say it could harm the state’s tourism industry. They say other measures could better promote public safety.
“Why not just make it a 0.00 percent limit? I’m not sure this does much in terms of keeping the public safe,” said state Sen. Luz Escamilla, a Democrat.