ABI Backs DUI Laws Against High BAC

Trade Group Recognizes National Impaired Driving Prevention Month by Urging Lawmakers to Focus on Hardcore Drunk Drivers

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December has been designated National Impaired Driving Prevention Month. Drunk driving fatalities have fallen dramatically over the past two decades, while drugged driving poses a increasing threat on our nation’s roadways. To maximize police resources and increase traffic safety, The American Beverage Institute, a restaurant trade association representing over 8,000 of America’s favorite family restaurants, urges lawmakers to tackle the growing drugged driving problem and focus anti-drunk driving efforts on the hardcore drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of alcohol-related traffic fatalities.

Seventy percent of drunk driving fatalities are caused by drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.15 percent or higher. The average BAC level for a drunk driver involved in a fatal crash is 0.16–twice the legal limit.

“Instead of focusing our limited resources on the hardcore drunk drivers who are the most resistant to changing their behavior, lawmakers in 17 states have enacted harsh penalties requiring low-BAC, first-time drunk drivers to install ignition interlocks,” said ABI Managing Director Sarah Longwell. “Extending interlocks to low-BAC, first-time offenders costs state and local governments millions of dollars annually without successfully changing long-term habits–studies <http://www.thecommunityguide.org/mvoi/PIIS0749379710007105.pdf>  show that offenders who install interlocks are just as likely to re-offend as non-interlocked offenders once their sentences are complete.”

ABI supports laws requiring high-BAC and repeat offenders to install ignition interlocks, but opposes efforts to impose a one-size-fits-all penalty on every convicted drunk driver. ABI also opposes efforts by federal researchers and automobile manufacturers to develop alcohol detection devices for installation in all cars. The program, the Driver Alcohol Detection System for Safety (DADSS), recently received a $10 million boost in funding in the federal highway bill.

“If alcohol sensing technology is successfully implemented in all cars, it will be nearly impossible for drivers to have a glass of wine with dinner without worrying whether their cars will start,” continued Longwell. “Even the head of the research program has admitted that the devices will have to be set well below the legal limit due to legal and liability concerns. Such a low setting will make responsible social drinking before driving a thing of the past.”

Though DADSS supporters claim the alcohol detectors would be voluntary, a Department of Transportation fact sheet <http://interlockfacts.com/downloads/DADSS_NHTSA_InAllCars_1-31-11_HL.pdf>  about the technology released last year admits, “The goal over time is to equip all passenger vehicles in the United States with the technology.” Leaders of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, avid DADSS supporters, hope that alcohol detectors will be as standard in vehicles as airbags.

The technology won’t just affect those drivers who’ve had a drink: Even if these alcohol detection devices were manufactured to be reliable 99.99966 percent of the time, it would still mean over 4,000 misreadings per day. That means every day, thousands of sober drivers could find their cars locked down by a faulty interlock.

Longwell concluded: “This week marks the 79th anniversary of the repeal of Prohibition and an end to one of our nation’s worst experiments. Unfortunately, activists continue to push neo-prohibitionist policies such as mandatory alcohol detectors in all cars. As we recognize National Drunk and Drugged Driving Prevention Month, it’s critical that we also recognize the rights of responsible drinkers and urge our lawmakers to reject anti-alcohol policies and instead focus on enforcing the law against the hardcore drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of alcohol-related fatalities.”

The American Beverage Institute is an association of restaurants committed to the responsible serving of adult beverages. To learn more visit: www.TheNewProhibition.com