Lowering Legal Blood Alcohol Levels for Drivers Decreases Accidents by Nearly 15 Percent

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(PRWEB) October 22, 2004 -- In August 2000, 19 states enacted .08 alcohol blood level laws. These new laws made it illegal to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) at or above .08 percent. After nearly 4 years, the reponderance of the evidence has demonstrated that this has led to a dramatic reduction in alcohol-related fatalities.

For example, in Illinois, the number of drivers with positive BACs (BAC>.00) in fatal crashes decreased 13.7 percent. This is a statistically significant reduction, and included drivers at both low and high BACs.

In fact, the researchers estimated that the .08 law may have saved 47 lives in Illinois just in 1998.

Terry Haggin, CEO of www.InternetDrivingSchool.com stated that "this is a clear example of the need for uniform national blood alcohol levels at a level below what many states are calling safe. No level of alcohol is safe when someone is behind the wheel of a moving vehicle but .08 is certainly better than .10."

In summary, based on these new findngs, alcohol-related fatalities decreased 13.7 percent after implementation of the .08 per se law in Illinois. This data suggests that the law has had an impact in the state and has saved a significant number of lives. And no major problems were reported by the local law enforcement or sanctioning systems as far as the additional numbers of cited and arrested violators.

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