Summary: The National Transportation Safety Board is hoping to lower the legal alcohol limit by nearly half in an effort to reduce drunk driving and alcohol-related deaths.
The federal government wants to move towards a stricter approach to drunk driving by lowering the legal blood alcohol limit. Currently the legal limit is .08 but the National Transportation Safety Board wants a limit of .05.
Drunk Driver Kills 2 and Injures 23 after Driving through Festival Barricades
Georgia has already lowered their legal limit several times over the past few years to the current legal limit. Their limit was at .15 then to .12 and .10 and now down to .08. The new proposed limit of .05 translates to about three drinks for an average sized person or a drink-and-a-half for a small woman.
Drunk Driving Fatalities Increase Across America in 2012
Defense lawyer William C. “Bubba” Head of Georgia specializes in DUI cases. He worries that the new limit will negatively impact businesses because people will be afraid to order drinks. Head may be exaggerating his concern when he states, “I guess people – even if they go out after church and have a glass of wine – are going to have to get a ride home,” but others feel that erring on the side of safety is more important.
Actress Amy Locane Facing Civil and Criminal Case from Drunk Driving Crash
The NTSB estimates that 4 million people drive drunk each year in the U.S. with half of those that get stopped by police not being caught. Around 25,000 people are killed by alcohol each year. The NTSB hopes to lower that number.
Source: http://www.cbs46.com/story/31163923/state-considering-lowering-legal-alcohol-limit
Photo: telegraph.co.uk