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

[zipplewrath]

50. But those other factors would have to be present

Right now the law is ignorant of those other factors. So even if they are not present, you are guilty. Conversely, even if those other factors are present, but you don't have a BAC of 0.08, you're deemed good to go. Despite the evidence that some of these factors are seriously more dangerous than a BAC of 0.08. Commercial drivers (who basically can't have a BAC level) are monitored for fatigue. So are commercial airline pilots. But if Tiger Woods hadn't been on drugs, he'd have done nothing wrong when they found him asleep on the side of the road.

Yes, the "risk" of a crash (not a fatal one, nor even an injury accident) doubles. But the risk of a crash is very low to begin with. 2 times zero is still zero. You'll note, that on weekends when the number of drivers that are legally intoxicated increases by whole integer multiples, we don't double or triple our injury accident rates. The reason is that the "risk" of a crash goes DOWN at those times because their are fewer cars on the road, and the demographics of the driving public changes. There are other factors that influence crashes far more than small BAC levels. Factors like speeding tend to contribute greater risk than low BAC levels, in part because speeding is what most people with low BAC levels DON'T do. The police don't look for "dangerous" driving when looking for intoxication, quite the opposite, they look for people driving VERY conservatively. I've "walked the line" five times over the years (hey, ya own a two seat sports car on a Saturday night, yer gonna get pulled over). I was stone cold sober every time. Every time I got pulled over it was for something obtuse, like driving well below the speed limit (I was looking for an address) or for stopping at a Stop sign too long (I was reading a map), things like that.

As I say, it's not that anyone is particularly advocating for driving while intoxicated. It's merely that the emphasis on very low BAC levels is out of line with the risk. Even more so, there is little differentiation being made between low levels and much higher levels. Folks are getting pulled over for 0.08, with no other real risky behavior, and they lose their license for 6 months, and are put into alcohol treatment programs, all because they had that second glass of wine at dinner.