Panel Lowers Drunken Driving Limit

Idaho drivers could be judged drunk at 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content instead of 0.10 percent under legislation approved Wednesday by a House committee.

Serious driver impairment begins about 0.08 percent, said sponsor Rep. Ron Crane, R-Caldwell.

Dr. Eugene Brown, a representative of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said a person is 12 times more likely to have a fatal accident at 0.10 than at 0.08.

Two lobbyists for liquor interests said, though, the problem is heavy drinkers, not light ones. Making the legal limit 0.08, said Ken McClure, lobbyist for Anheuser-Busch, would address just 7 percent of the problem.

“This bill, though well-intentioned, is misguided,” McClure said.

Rep. Bill Sali, R-Meridian, agreed with McClure, but supported the legislation anyway. “0.08 is the right thing to do,” said Sali, “not because of the statistics, but real-life people really are impaired at 0.08.”

The committee voted 8-2 to send the bill to the full House for a vote. Voting in favor was the committee’s only North Idaho member, Rep. June Judd, D-St. Maries.

, DataTimes