National Academy of Sciences: For Safe Roads, We Need Point 05 BAC

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The time may have come for the United States to be dragged kicking and screaming into accepting .05 blood alcohol content (BAC) limits for DUI. Currently, every state in the U.S. has a .08 BAC, much higher than the .05 that is commonly enforced throughout much of the developed world. A new report from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS), the pre-eminent research council in the country, recommends we play catch up.

Alcohol-related crashes take the lives of an American every 49 minutes. In its new report, Getting to Zero Alcohol-Impaired Driving Fatalities: A Comprehensive Approach to a Persistent Problem, the NAS emphasizes that "these deaths are entirely preventable." The key, the authors stress, is to approach the problem at multiple steps in the process. This means simultaneously lowering the amount of alcohol the U.S. drinks as whole, reducing binging and other overconsumption, keeping incapacitated drinkers from getting behind the wheel, and preventing them from repeating the process once they have been caught.

Key among this is the lowered BAC. As the authors note, driving ability has already begun to degrade by the time BAC reaches 0.05%. At least one state-Utah-has accepted this as a reasonable strategy to reduce mortality. Other states may follow; Washington and Hawaii considered similar bills last year, and a 0.05 BAC bill introduced by Assemblyman Felix Ortiz is current before the New York State legislature.

"Thanks are due to Mr. Ortiz for taking this stand," said Michael Scippa, Director of Public Affairs for Alcohol Justice. "Lowering the BAC limit is evidence-based, reasonable, and accepted throughout the world-it's good to see both the states and federal researchers coming into the 21st century."

However, the NAS stresses DUI reform alone is not enough to staunch the tide. They recommend multiple levels of policy change, including tighter restrictions on alcohol marketing, making alcohol less ubiquitous through hour-of-sales and closing hour restrictions, and aggressively providing clinical interventions and referrals to treatment. Most notably-especially in the wake of a nationwide evisceration of alcohol taxes-the report recommends increasing taxes on all forms of alcohol and dedicating the revenue to treatment, prevention, and enforcement efforts. This two-pronged approach, both to reduce demand through tax and mitigate impact through funding, is the backbone of charging for harm.

"If this country wants to take alcohol harm seriously, it needs to embrace Charge for Harm," said Scippa. "This report is a good first step. Let's make it into something real."

The NAS report is available for free download at the National Academies Press site.

READ MORE about how Point .05 Saves Lives.

READ MORE about responsible alcohol taxation and Charge for Harm.