Federal push to lower DUI levels falls flat with States
Back in May I wrote about the National Traffic Safety Board’s proposal to lower the alcohol level in DUI cases from 0.08 to 0.05. Well a recent article from the Washington Times suggests this federal push to lower the alcohol level in DUI cases is falling flat in the States. Meaning it is not getting any traction in the only places where matters and that is at the State level.
If you remember back in May I talked about the NTSB’s authority and how they really don’t have any. This was merely a proposal based on some studies they conducted. Basically finding if you lower the legal limit then there will be less accidents. Well duh? Perhaps if there was a no limit policy then there would be even less accidents. I found their reasoning to be pretty stupid to be honest with you and it appears many other more important people did as well.
In fact there are two organizations that are very powerful when it comes to this kind of stuff and they aren’t even supporting it. One is Mothers Against Drunk Driving or MADD, and the other is the Governors Highway Safety Association. So there you have it. Probably the two most conservative groups around aren’t in favor of this, and really the only vote that matters is among the States.
So the NTSB can recommend what they want. But ultimately in my opinion I think it is very unlikely that DUI cases are going to have lower legal limits anytime soon. Now things can change like they did when the DUI BAC levels were lowered from 0.10 to 0.08. The Federal Government can get involved and try to bully the States. Perhaps withhold federal funding or something like that. I wouldn’t put that past our Federal Government.
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About the author: Matthew Leyba is a DUI Attorney in Seattle. He has been named a 2013 Rising Star in DUI Defense by Super Lawyers Magazine. An honor less than 2.5% of all Attorneys receive. He is also rated a 10 out of 10 by Avvo when it comes to DUI lawyers.