Blood Alcohol Limit For Drivers Should Be Lowered To 0.05 Percent: NTSB

[tech3149]

9. As someone who spent my entire working life on the road who likes his liquor, I'm torn

I've seen the deterioration of driving skills in general over the last few decades. The cars are now so easy to drive that the only thing that I can put my finger on as a cause is lack of attention and distraction. If the average driver I see on the roads is any indication any reduction in BAC is welcome but I doubt it will have even a modest effect.

As someone who likes his liquor, I don't think BAC is a hard and fast measure of impairment or inability to drive safely. I and others I have known have over the years driven safely at well above the legal limit. There are many factors that affect your ability to function at varied levels of blood alcohol content.
What is your competency performing the skill at a baseline?
How accustomed are you to perform at a competent level while being impaired no matter the cause?
How familiar are you with the condition of impairment to judge your ability?

I doubt that there's anyone reading this that can't think of at least one news story of someone doing outrageous things with a BAC of two or three times the legal limit. On the other side of the argument are the stories of someone pulled over at a sobriety checkpoint and charged with DUI while they were operating the vehicle safely and competently.

Following the precautionary principle would suggest that no level of impairment is acceptable but there are people I would not share the road with if they were stone-cold sober.