Time Magazine recently questioned whether the blood-alcohol level of .08, used as the drunk driving threshold in all 50 states, is too liberal and should be further reduced.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports it has only been in the last 5 years that all 50 states have adopted the .08 driving limit. Previously, the legal limit was .01. It had been as high as .15 in some states.
The United States joins Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom as countries with a .08 limit. However, many, many nations have a legal limit of .05, including Australia, parts of Canada, Germany, Hong Kong, Italy, Israel and much of South America.
In Japan, the legal limit is just .03 and in China, Sweden and Norway, it is .02. And in Russia and Saudi Arabia, it is essentially .00, with an arrest warranted for any driver showing any signs of intoxication. Consequently, Time Magazine reports that driving home from a bar in Sweden is nearly unheard of.
A BAC of .08 requires a 180-pound male to consume about six beers in two hours, according to various estimates. However, each person is different. A driver's metabolism, what type of alcohol he or she is consuming, and a host of other factors all play a role.
Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Lawyers do not think lowering the threshold for DUI will have a practical impact on the safety of motorists. In 2009, state law enforcement officers arrested 63,089 motorists for DUI, according to the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. That is nearly 50 percent more than the 42,167 arrested in 2003.
The problem is not that law enforcement are not making enough arrests. And a lower threshold will likely only lead to more marginal arrests and poor cases. Only about half of those charged with DUI in Florida -- 36,872 of 63,019 in 2009 -- are found guilty in any given year.
But with that said, we also think there is a better than average chance that the level will be further reduced in the future. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration blames one-third of the nation's traffic deaths on drunk driving -- 11,773 last year. And few will stand to protest such a move by politicians, who are always eager for public approval.
From a practical standpoint, it just makes it all the more critical to keep your driving record clean by fighting a drunk driving charge. If and when the thresholds are lowered in the future, it will be even easier to be stopped and cited again. And the state's tiered penalties for DUI make for a greater likelihood of jail time or other substantial penalties for a repeat violation.
Fort Lauderdale DUI Attorney Carlos Canet is an aggressive and experienced drunk driving defense attorney, representing clients facing DUI charges in Fort Lauderdale, Miami and West Palm Beach. Call 866-7ASKDUI to discuss your rights.
