Should the US drunk-driving threshold be lowered?

[Bacle2]

Part of the problem, I think, is that if you take away someone's license in much of the US, a person will be unable to go about much of their daily life required to ,basically, sustain oneself at the most basic level. How can one go shopping for food or how can one get to work in much of the country without driving? Maybe in some parts of the country one can get food delivered to one's home; but I think the costs of doing this become prohibitive over the long run.

 

[enosis_]

Leaving the country factor aside , I think lowering the alcohol limit is really aiming at the wrong crowd.People that are driving completely drunk on their *** will always eventually get caught and those are the ones who are more likely to be involved in deadly accidents.Lowering the limit will only penalize people that like to have 1-3 beers or a glass of wine or two.These people will be stuck with a criminal record that I don't think they deserve for the most part and their lives could be changed forever because of it.

Hit the people that are getting caught multiples times and the people that are getting caught completely intoxicated and hit them hard.Leave the moderate drinkers alone.Alcohol is too present in society to aim for complete sobriety while driving.

I think it's bordering on infantilization to lower the limit from 0,8 to 0,5.

I agree.

 

[Astronuc]

I don't think the BAC should be lowered, the difference in capabilities between the two levels can't possibly be enough to warrant this.

What needs to be done is to crack down on people that are severely inebriated and/or repeat offenders, not crack down on someone that's had 1-2 drinks and not out of control. the only thing the lower BAC is meant to do is to needlessly fine someone that has been pulled over at a police checkpoint, and not because they were driving dangerously.

Proper enforcement is necessary.

My brother and I once followed a drunk driver for nearly 20 miles on a freeway in Houston. The guy was weaving/drifting across several lanes. We called 911, but there was no response from the Houston police, even after we told them on which freeway we were driving, and several times gave the crossroads. The person finally pulled off the freeway and we gave up waiting for the police.

I also watched a drunk driver swing around a blind curve across the dividing line. Had another car been coming around the curve, it would have been a head on collision. Fortunately there was no oncoming traffic, and the driver subsequently pulled into a quiet neighborhood about two miles later.


My wife used to counsel offenders with multiple drunk driving arrests. They were still on the road.