SHOULD WE CUT THE BAC LIMIT BY HALF

This article presents the view that the current alcohol blood level allowable in most states is twice as high as it should be. Research indicates a strong direct relationship between increased BAC (blood alcohol concentration) in a driver and increased risk of involvement in automobile crashes. An American Medical Association (AMA) report concludes that significant alcohol involvement in injury-causing road crashes begins at a driver BAC of 0.05 per cent. Drivers with BACs lower than 0.10 per cent, while perhaps not legally intoxicated by their state legal standard, have significantly increased risk of injuring themselves or others. This is particularly true of drivers aged 16 to 25 years. Data from the Fatal Accident Reporting System indicate that younger drivers involved in fatal accidents have lower average BACs than older drivers. Factors that could account for these observations are discussed. The AMA studies also found that at BACs of up to 0.05 per cent, 0 to 10 per cent of the subjects in the studies were considered to be drunk; at levels of 0.10 to 0.15 per cent, 14 to 68 per cent were considered drunk. Laboatory tasks have shown a corresponding impact on performance. AMA efforts to contain the rate of alcohol-related automobile accidents have included a push for increasing the minimum drinking age to 21 years, and a campaign for legislation making 0.05 per cent BAC illegal per se.