Driving While Intoxicated: The Facts

FACT: In 2000, some 16,653 people were killed in vehicle crashes involving alcohol. This represents 40% of all people killed in traffic accidents that year. (See the US map of all deaths related to intoxication.)

FACT: At present, there are 17 states with laws making it illegal to drive at a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) over 100 mg/dL (0.1%); 32 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico have a lower cutoff point, which is 80 mg/dL. In October 2000, the federal government passed a law mandating that all states enact laws lowering the legal driving BAC to 80 mg/dL by October 2003 or face the penalty of withholding 2% of their federal highway construction funds.

• These cutoff points establish the level below which driving is per se illegal in and of itself. Per se means that the only factor considered is the BAC. Whether the person actually is intoxicated, behaves as if he or she is intoxicated, or appears to be intoxicated does not count.
  
  
• Numerous studies demonstrate that almost all drivers are impaired at a level of 80 mg/dL with respect to critical driving skills such as braking, steering, and changing lanes. Impairment begins as low as 20 mg/dL and is common at 50 mg/dL. Most significant is that impairment of skills begins at a much lower level than required to exhibit obvious signs of being drunk. The per se level mandated by the federal government for drivers of commercial vehicles is a mere 40 mg/dL (0.04%). This applies to all 50 states.
  
  
• In 1992, the National Highway Transportation and Safety Administration recommended that all states lower their illegal per se levels to 80 mg/dL (0.08%). Only 19 states have done so. A strong lobby representing sellers of alcoholic beverages has been instrumental in preventing adoption of the recommended levels by all states. Also, the expense of enforcing the lower limits is a significant issue.
  
  
• All countries in Europe are below the 100 mg/dL cutoff common in the US. Countries with a cutoff of 80 mg/dL include Austria, Britain, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain, Switzerland, and Canada. Countries with a cutoff of 50 mg/dL include Belgium, Finland, France, Greece, Netherlands, and Portugal. Sweden and Norway have a 20 mg/dL cutoff.
  
  
• American society continues to be complacent about drunk drivers. Even when a person who is drunk kills someone in a motor vehicle accident, the sentence tends to be extremely light, if imposed at all. Defending drunk drivers is a huge legal business. Over the years, numerous creative defenses have been successfully employed. Some of the popular ones include these:
  
  
  • Driver claims to have consumed the alcohol after the accident to calm nerves.
    
    
  • Driver claims that he or she only had a soft drink at the party, but someone else laced it with alcohol.
    
    
  • Driver claims to have medical conditions that impede the normal metabolism of alcohol.
    
    
  • Driver says the alcohol swab used to clean the skin before the blood sample was drawn contaminated the skin. (Such swabs contain isopropyl alcohol, not ethanol, and do not register on the ethanol test.)
    
    
  • Specimen was mixed with another in the lab.
    
    
  • Driver consumed alcohol-containing elixirs such as cough syrup or mouthwash.