For many, car crashes are the face of alcohol harm.
The seeming randomness, ensuing devastation, and sense of preventability generate a strong sense of alarm. Mothers Against Drunk Driving, one of the most powerful and effective U.S. alcohol policy reform groups of the past 50 years, achieved national prominence based on its singular focus on reducing dangerous driving.
Yet for at least a decade now, the United States has been slowly losing the war against it.
Since the pandemic, alcohol-related crash deaths—like most alcohol-related harms—have skyrocketed. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of deaths caused by impaired driving went from 11,654 in 2020 to 13,524 in 2022. California hasn’t been spared the trend, with the CA Office of Transportation Safety reporting a 20% rise between 2017 and 2021. Many states are now seeing the need to push dramatic, evidenced-based policies. So far this year, two have begun deliberating a reduce blood alcohol content (BAC) for DUI, while California may be going all-in on ignition interlock devices.
Alcohol-Related Driving Legislation Roundup
Washington State SB 5067 / HB 1315
Washington follows the lead of Utah, which in 2017 reduced the legal upper limit for driving while intoxicated from 0.08 BAC to 0.05 BAC. The results in the Beehive State were encouraging: an 11.5% decrease in crashes per mile traveled, a 10.9% decrease in injuries, and a 19.8% decrease in crash fatalities compared to a 5.6% national decline. This was not simply an artifact of newly enthusiastic policing, either. Analysis of data around police stops showed a 19.5% decrease in BAC over 0.08, and an enormous 24.1% decrease in BACs over 0.15. All of which is to say, it likely drove drivers to simply drink less, saving lives not just through safer driving but, potentially, through less binging during nights out.
Vermont H.123
Vermont takes a similar, if slightly less cut-and-dried, approach to Washington. Rather than simply lowering the existing threshold for criminal DUI from 0.08 to 0.05, Vermont’s proposal would create a new category of misdemeanor driving for BACs between 0.06 and 0.079. This approach has some tradeoffs. DUI enforcement, when pursued with bias, risks creating two tiers of justice where high-income offenders can use the legal system to reduce their penalties to slaps on the wrist while low-income offenders receive the strongest sentences. (The equity concerns here are all the more stark considering how high-income U.S. residents are overall more likely to drink dangerously.) While the new misdemeanor DUI still carries a fine of up to $500 and suspension of driving privileges, the actual penalty does not result in a criminal record. That way, the consequences for not “lawyering up” are reduced, but the basic incentive to reduce drinking remains. If the Utah experience holds up, this could—though we should emphasize could—result in a reduction in DUIs and a the life-altering consequences of criminal justice involvement. The concern, however, is that creating a “less serious” DUI threshold implies that there are less dangerous ways to drive while intoxicated. The end result—destruction, trauma, injury and death—is the same for a driver crashing at 0.05 as it is at 0.08.
California AB 366
California has made past attempts at a 0.05 BAC, which failed in the legislature. Instead, it is taking aim at recidivism. Depending on the country, 21% to 46% of individuals convicted of DUI become repeat offenders, and repeat offenders are 62% more likely to be involved in a lethal crash. Ignition interlock devices (IIDs) have emerged as a highly effective method to reduce repeat DUI arrests. (The name of the device would help for clarity) IIDs are installed into cars and use rapid breath analysis to disable the ignition if the driver has alcohol in their system. California currently has a pilot program in place where some offenders can opt for ignition interlocks in lieu of other penalties. AB 366 would extend that pilot to all drivers, requiring anyone receiving a DUI conviction to have on installed and maintained as a condition of regaining their driver’s license. To offset economic disparities, the state would offer subsidies against installation and maintenance fees for low-income residents. They are not foolproof, but the complexity of evading or tampering with an IID far outstrips the complexity of simply getting a ride from someone else when you plan to drink.
States are still early in their legislative sessions, and it is certain that more efforts to curb dangerous driving will emerge in coming months. Despite resistance—be it from Big Alcohol, reluctant lawmakers, or individuals unwilling to accept the risks of their own choices—new approaches to DUI prevention are ideas whose time has come. The overwhelming majority of high-income countries—with the notable exceptions of the U.S. and Canada—enforce BACs of 0.05 or less. The reason is simple: Point .05 Saves Lives.
READ MORE about the fight for common-sense DUI laws.
READ MORE about the fight for Point .05.