Buzzed Driving? Why Staying Under the Legal Limit May Not Be Good Enough

September 7, 2016 By

When the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) released its Most Wanted List for 2016, one of its 10 points was to Eliminate Substance Impairment in Transportation. To that end, the federal agency, again, recommended that all states lower the legal limit on alcohol while driving to a BAC of .05 or lower. The NTSB first called for states to lower the limit to .05 in May, 2013. Currently, the limit in all states, for drivers 21 and over, is .08. Some states do have a lesser charge of driving while ability impaired (DWAI) which kicks in at .05, and carries very serious consequences.

Why .05?

According to the NTSB, studies have found:

  • A BAC between .05 and .079 increases your risk of being in a fatal crash by three to 17 times, depending on the age of the driver
  • Drivers with a BAC of .05 are 38% more likely to be in a crash than drivers without alcohol in their systems
  • Drivers with a BAC of .07 are twice as likely to crash
  • Drivers with a BAC of .08 are 2.69 times more likely to crash

Laboratory studies have found that impairment is significant at .05. Some countries have seen reductions in fatal crashes after lowering their limits to .05.

What Does it Mean for You?

Laws change, but reality does not. Even if you can get away with driving with a BAC of .05 for now, does that mean you should? The real concern is driving impaired. If you are killed in an accident, it doesn’t matter if you were operating within your legal rights, you’re still dead. And if you kill someone else, you have to live with that for the rest of your life, even if you don’t go to prison.

How do you know? According to some, it can take up to three drinks to reach a BAC of .05. But others say that the average woman will hit .05 after consuming just one drink. It really depends and many factors including the actual amount of alcohol in your drink, whether you have food in your stomach, your metabolism, your ethnicity, and more.

If you or someone you love has been injured by a drunk driver, learn more about Drunk Driving Accident Claims.

Filed Under: Accident Statistics, Drunk Driver Accidents, Safe Driving
Avatar About Sandra Dalton

With a background as a paralegal, focusing on criminal defense and civil rights, Sandra Dalton launched her freelance writing career in 2000 with a weekly column on Freedom for Suite 101 and pro bono projects for individuals and organizations supporting causes close to her heart. One of her first projects was for the Police Compliant Center writing about police misconduct. Sandra’s legal writing quickly expanded to include personal injury, animal welfare, criminal defense, disability discrimination, family law and much more.