Utah is lowing the drunk driving limit this year, and one NYS lawmaker wants New York to do the same.

How do you feel about lowering the BAC from .08 to .05 for a DWI in New York?

Starting December 30 in Utah, if you're pulled over with a BAC higher than .05, you'll be charged with a DWI. Assistant Speaker Felix W. Ortiz is asking NYS to follow suit.

Ortiz has reintroduced legislation to lower a driver’s blood alcohol concentration level to help combat the 10,000 alcohol-impaired deaths each year. This would limit women to two drinks, and three drinks for most men when not taking into consideration what they've recently eaten.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report is behind significantly lowering drunken driving thresholds and also suggests that Federal and state governments should greatly increase alcohol taxes as it should reduce binge drinking and alcohol-related motor vehicle crash fatalities, The report also recommends:

  • Reduce alcohol availability.
  • Implement standards for alcohol marketing.
  • Conduct frequent publicized sobriety checkpoints.
  • Enact laws to require ignition interlocks for all offenders with a BAC above the limit for a minimum of two years for a first offense and four years for a second offense.
  • Implement DWI courts aimed at changing the offenders’ behavior through comprehensive monitoring and substance abuse treatment with standards set by the National Center for DWI Courts.

Ortiz sponsors laws to make our highways safer, and his legislation was the first to ban cell phone use by drivers.

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