Groups split over proposal to drop drunken driving benchmark | www.myajc.com

It’s been nearly two weeks since the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all 50 states adopt a blood-alcohol content limit of 0.05, and the response is Georgia has been lukewarm.

On the one hand, reducing the maximum legal blood-alcohol content (BAC) from 0.08 could mean 15 fewer alcohol-related highway deaths each year.

On the other, some argue, the casual drinker, the person who wants a second glass of wine with dinner, will be paying for the sins of those who regularly drink themselves into oblivion, then get into their cars and drive.

The argument that there are better ways to keep impaired drivers from getting behind the wheel is coming from unexpected corners, including the Georgia chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers.

MADD does not oppose a drop in the legal BAC level, said Georgia chapter executive director Barry Martin, but the group does not support it either. MADD contends the focus should be on initiatives started several years ago that would require that devices be placed on the cars of people convicted of their first DUI, preventing a car’s ignition from starting if the driver has been drinking.

via Groups split over proposal to drop drunken driving benchmark | www.myajc.com.