Utah set to drop blood-alcohol limit to .05, strictest in country

[zipplewrath]

10. Out of control

Back when MADD first got started, most of the research was done on levels between 0.12 and 0.14. Much of that research is still the basis today. It got lowered to 0.10 mostly in the form of caution. These are actually very low levels and testing was fraught with difficulties. The lowering to 0.08 was sold politically as a way of avoiding the accuracy issues with testing. Don't arrest them until they blow 0.10 but if the lawyers argue accuracy, one can always make the case that regardless, they were "over the limit". Of course that lasted about a week and pretty soon people were getting hauled in for blowing 0.08.

I don't advocate for drinking and driving, but the science at this point is weak. Correlation between 0.08, or even 0.10, and accident rates is poor. The strongest predictor for serious accidents (basically accidents with injury) is bad drivers. It's in the 80+% range. A couple of speeding tickets and maybe a reckless driving or red light running with an accident and you've got the most accurate predictor of a serious injury accident coming. Get these same folks intoxicated and it goes up to the 95% range. But you've got a serious number of people who are "legally" intoxicated every weekend, and after every college and pro football games, but the vast majority get home "just fine". It's because they modify their behavior. In fact, the behavior modifications are what cops look for. And it isn't speeding or red light running. Quite the opposite, it's stuff like driving well UNDER the speed limit. Stopping well short of a stop sign or red light. Not noticing it turned green is another one.

MADD got taken over by the WCTU. Even the founder left the organization because it was moving towards tee-totaling. It's no surprise this happened in Utah first, but don't be surprised to see this pushed in other states as well.