Is It Time to Change the Legal BAC Content for Drunk Drivers?

The legal BAC (blood alcohol concentration) level was at 0.08 percent in all 50 states by 2004. While fatalities from drunk driving accidents did decline, is 0.08 percent low enough? A new study is recommending that the level is reduced even further since the risk of accidents while driving drunk is significant at lower BAC levels.

In this issue, the Anchorage drunk driving personal injury lawyers with Barber & Associates will go into more detail of the study’s findings.

The Study at a Glance

Carried out by researchers with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, the study recommends lowering the legal BAC to 0.05 percent in the U.S. Even at that level, the average person will show signs of deteriorating coordination, impaired judgment and exaggerated behavior.

By the time a person’s BAC hits 0.08 percent, their short-term memory has been affected and their muscle coordination has decreased significantly.

“I’m sympathetic to people who go out and who drink,” said the lead researcher. “But remember that about almost half of all people who die in impaired driving crashes are actually not the drinking driver. The risk of a crash starts to go up at about 0.02 percent, and by the time you’re at 0.05, your risk of a crash is increased several fold.”

What does the rest of the world think?

According to data, many countries in the developed world (including France, Germany, Greece, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Russia, Denmark and Finland) have BAC limits of 0.05 percent or less.

In some of those countries, the drunk driving laws aren’t universal at the national level. Rather, they vary by province or state. Also, there are stricter limits for new drivers and those who drive for a living (taxi drivers, bus drivers, etc.).

If you’ve been injured by a drunk driver, call the Alaska drunk driving personal injury lawyers at Barber & Associates.

We’ve long said that drunk driving is a scourge on our society. As the above study’s lead researcher said, perhaps the most tragic aspect of drunk driving incidents is that it’s often the driver who has not been drinking that usually gets hurt.

If you’ve been injured by an impaired driver, we want to represent you in court so that you get the compensation you’re entitled to.

For a free interview, call us at 907-276-5858 or get in touch via email.

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