The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted this week in favor of lowering the legal limit for blood alcohol content (BAC) to .05%, a significant reduction from the current national standard of .08%. And while the NTSH doesn’t have the power to order the proposal into effect, the federal government has, in the past, threatened …
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) voted this week in favor of lowering the legal limit for blood alcohol content (BAC) to .05%, a significant reduction from the current national standard of .08%. And while the NTSH doesn’t have the power to order the proposal into effect, the federal government has, in the past, threatened to withhold highway subsidies from states that failed to adopt uniform safety measures. New restrictions on blood alcohol levels could result in DUI charges even for responsible drivers in Oklahoma and throughout the United States. If you have been charged with drunk driving in Oklahoma, your first course of action should be to consult our DUI defense attorneys at Oklahoma Legal Center.
How a Lower BAC Limit Could Affect You
The current threshold for drunk driving (.08%) has been in effect for about ten years, but NTSB statistics showing that one person dies in a motor vehicle accident involving a drunk driver every hour in the U.S. could change the nationally-recognized legal limit in the near future. There are many factors that can play into a person’s BAC, but a chart provided by the University of Oklahoma indicates that even just one drink could be enough for a 100-pound woman to achieve a reading of .05% on a breathalyzer test. For a 220-pound man, it could take only three drinks.
Even MADD Opposes Lower Blood Alcohol Limits
There are some who support a lower national BAC limit, but others think the current .08% limit should be left alone. “The possibility of getting pulled over and receiving a ticket, or worse, after having a drink with dinner seems excessive to me,” said the general manager of an Ohio bar, “but I do fully support the government cracking down on drunk drivers.” As a whole, the NTSB’s request has received mixed reviews, and opposition to the proposal has come from the unlikeliest of sources. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) spokesperson Julie Leggett said the organization actually favors maintaining the .08% standard, to be used in conjunction with active and passive technologies that render a vehicle inoperable by an impaired driver.
Consult Our DUI Defense Attorneys Today
Managing director of the American Beverage Institute, Sarah Longwell, argues that lowering the legal BAC limit “would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior.” According to Longwell, more than 70% of DUI accident fatalities are caused by drivers with BAC levels of .15% or higher, with less than 1% of the 32,000 U.S. traffic deaths in 2011 being caused by drivers with blood alcohol levels between .05% and .08%. If you are facing DUI charges in Oklahoma City, or elsewhere in Oklahoma, contact our DUI defense lawyers at Oklahoma Legal Center as soon as possible. By hiring our qualified attorneys to represent your defense, you can significantly improve your chances of receiving a favorable outcome in your drunk driving case.