Last week’s DYK article was about a proposal by New York state Assembly member Jo Anne Simon to lower the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) for driving while intoxicated in New York state from .08 to .05. Currently, Utah is the only state that has adopted the lower limit, which became effective in 2018. In this article we will examine what effect Utah’s .05 BAC limit has had on crashes and on business.

An analysis by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of Utah’s crash data in February 2022 showed reductions for almost all the crash and driver alcohol involvement measures for the 21 months after the law was passed, and for the 12 months after it went into effect. Many of these crash measures (i.e., fewer crashes and lower alcohol involvement) estimated reductions in the 10% to 25% range.

An examination of Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) revealed reductions in fatal crashes and overall numbers of people killed compared to 2016. When vehicle miles travelled are considered, the fatal crash rate reduction from 2016 to 2019 in Utah was 19.8% and the fatality rate reduction was 18.3%. In comparison, the rest of the United States showed a 5.6% crash rate reduction and 5.9% fatality rate reduction during the same period.

“For decades, this country has seen too many lives lost in preventable crashes where impaired driving was at play,” said Jenny Burke, senior director of impairment practice at the National Safety Council. “This study shows that the simple act of lowering a state BAC has a direct and immediate impact on saving lives.”

In 2019, 22.1% of drinkers in Utah indicated they had, in fact, changed their behaviors once the law went into effect. The most common behavior modification reported was making sure transportation was available when drinking away from home.

The data reviewed for the National Safety Council study indicated none of the negative effects that some opponents had predicted were realized. In fact, alcohol sales and per capita consumption continued to increase, as did tourism and tax revenues. Likewise, DUI arrests for alcohol did not increase markedly after the law became effective.

Overall, the study’s findings indicate that passage of the .05 per se law had demonstrably positive impacts on highway safety in Utah. The crash analyses demonstrated reliable reductions in crash rates and alcohol involvement in crashes associated with the new law that were consistent with, or greater than, those observed or predicted by prior research (e.g., Fell and Scherer, 2017).

Related information shows that dozens of European and Asian nations that lowered the legal alcohol limit for drivers actually reduced the number of drunken driving fatalities. As one expert has observed, people in those countries continue to drink more per capita than people in the U.S., yet there are fewer deaths on the roads.

So, how would you vote? Do you favor lowering the BAC for driving while intoxicated in New York state from .08 to .05 or would you keep it at the current .08? If you strongly feel one way or the other, send your opinion to me at: dwerner151@verizon.net.