A state lawmaker in Utah is trying to lower the blood-alcohol content DUI limit for driving regulation DUI laws to .05 percent. 1.800.NoCuffs founding criminal defense attorney Darren Kavinoky predicts “the food, beverage and restaurant interests are so powerful” that it will be ultimately rejected. [1]
DUI Drinking Legal Limit
“The notion of lowering the legal limit for DUI charges isn’t new, and it’s a something we can expect to see more of,” says criminal defense and DUI defense lawyer Darren Kavinoky.
“In fact, the legal DUI limit for drinking and driving cases used to be .15 then was lowered to .10, and then again to .08. And when certain states resisted lowering from .10 to .08, the federal government threatened to withhold critical highway funds until and unless those states complied. So there is a great deal of legal precedent in support of this trend towards lowering the limit,” explains Kavinoky.
“That said, it’s difficult to envision going below that level, or all the way to ‘zero tolerance’ for several reasons,” Kavinoky adds. “First, studies performed by NHTSA and others suggest that people aren’t impaired for purposes of driving below .08. and especially below .05.” [View the 1.800.NoCuffs Alcohol Absorption Infographic here.]
“Next, at some point, the citizens will resist the notion that they can’t enjoy a glass of wine or a beer with dinner, and drive afterward. It just smacks into the notions of freedom of choice that this country was founded upon. Finally, the food, beverage, and restaurant interests are so powerful that I predict they will tap into those notions of freedom, and the financial impact of no longer being able to serve a significant population, that attempts to go lower still will be rejected,” forecasts Kavinoky.
Ignition Interlock Device
“The technology is available now to ensure that every driver is alcohol free, whether that be by way of steering wheels capable of testing skin for the emission of alcohol molecules through the hands, or ignition interlock devices that require the driver to blow into them to prove they are alcohol-free or the car won’t start. As much as everyone, myself included, wants to drive on roads that are safe, there are notions of individual liberty and personal freedom with which modern-day prohibitionists are certain to collide.”
SOURCES
1. AP. January 3, 2017. CBS Sacramento. Retrieved via http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2017/01/03/utah-considers-dropping-dui-threshold-to-05/.
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