A better path to progress on drunk driving.

Abstract

Research finds significant impairment at 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The world standard is 0.05. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has issued a strong recommendation for 0.05. So why isn't the highway safety community stepping up to lead the effort? There are three good reasons: Most studies, including those cited by Jim Fell and Bob Voas, find significant but not substantial impairment at 0.05 BAC. Unlike 0.08 BAC where all are intoxicated and are a primary threat to others on the road, Fell & Voas 1 state that ‘most’ are impaired. That makes simple substitution of the lower level to the very extensive array of criminal and administrative per se sanctions very problematic. It should be pointed out that not all countries with 0.05 have criminal penalties. Also, Hingson 2 and others have found, that Mothers Against Drunk Driving's (MADD) successful push for 0.08 BAC in all states save an estimated 600–800 lives per year, it is reasonable to estimate that the savings from 0.05 would be somewhat less. Such savings would be significant but finite. Law enforcement officers are the everyday heroes who get drunk drivers off the road, and everyone should be deeply concerned by the budget cuts they have faced in recent years. Increasing the number of violators without providing law enforcement with the resources they need would undercut deterrence, the primary doctrine MADD has successfully pursued since the findings of the Presidential Commission on Drunk Driving in 1983. Detection of 0.05 at sobriety checkpoints would also be more difficult. Legislatively, at the national level, the outlook is bleak. The benefits of 0.05 BAC presume enactment in all 50 states, which in turn presumes highway fund sanctions to force state action, which in turn presumes strong Congressional support which is non-existent and unlikely to change in the foreseeable future. MADD's Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving, launched in 2006, has an increasingly realistic target of virtually eliminating drunk driving at 0.08 BAC in the next 15 years. The four components of the Campaign are: committed support for high-visibility enforcement; enactment in all states of first conviction interlock laws; accelerated pursuit of advanced technologies that hold the real promise of not allowing the car to move when the driver is over 0.08 BAC; and continued aggressive efforts at increased public support. Since 2006, we have progressed from one state with first conviction interlock requirements at 0.08 to 20 states, with many more efforts pending and have made remarkable progress in developing a non-invasive in-vehicle alcohol detection system. We are profoundly grateful for the renewed commitments of support for pursuing advanced technology from National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Administrator David Strickland and United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) Secretary Anthony Foxx. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, these technologies have the ability to save an estimated 7000 lives per year. Other initiatives for driverless cars would also have major implications for drunk driving. In conclusion, let me be clear. I do not oppose 0.05 BAC. I simply and strongly support the far better strategy of the Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving. The better approach on 0.05 is that all states should have, and many do, non-per se penalties at 0.05 for proven impairment rather than intoxicated driving. We all look forward to the day when there are no drunk drivers on the road. None.