|
Dr. Bill,
Just before the elections,
Congress passed legislation, which was signed by the president,
which will deny states 5% of their federal highway construction
funds if they don't adopt the newly established national
.08 impaired driving standard. In the past, you've given
our New Jersey politicos the business for refusing to pass
legislation which would lower New Jersey's limits from the
present 0.1 level. Are you finally satisfied?
F.P.-Paramus
|
|
Dear F.P.,
Congress finally chose to make the world
a bit safer -- at least for our nation's motorists. Yes,
I'm glad they took some appropriate steps.....perhaps federal
action was the only chance to get as many impaired drivers
off the roads as possible. However, as usual, the feds have
to move in when the states fail to face up to their responsibilities.
Am I "satisfied?" Let's not lose sight of the
fact that, in the past, the New Jersey legislature has consistently
buried attempts to lower the present .01 level. Without
some significant changes in the nation's election finance
laws, I still have doubts that our state's politicians will
vote to comply. Why???
I have said this many times before and
I say again: If you don't understand something think of
money...in our state anyway, decisions on this subject are
tainted by the joint actions of the American Beverage Institute
and the New Jersey Restaurant Association. The American
Beverage Institute scuttled several similar bills on a national
level using the same methods as those used by the tobacco
industry to win its way: supply money, money, and more money
for extensive media campaigns, to pay their lobbyists, and
to support the campaigns of their friendly politicians and
the national committees of both major parties.
What are the facts here? Numerous scientific
studies provide scientific proof that even at a level of
.01-.05% a person has lowered alertness, usually a "good"
feeling...at the very least, restraint is loosened; thought
and judgment is impaired. (Great for driving! ) Go one step
further to a BAL of .06 - 0.1% which produces a markedly
impaired reaction time, depth perception, distance acuity,
peripheral vision, and glare recovery. Any new study will
not change these findings. Even at .08% a driver is still
impaired; most European countries know this; some allowing
a level of only .02%.
A standard "drink" equals 0.50
oz. of absolute alcohol. Alcohol is removed from the liver
at essentially a constant rate of 0.25 oz./hr, half of that
in a standard drink. Unless there is liver damage, most
people fall in this range, no matter what the body size
or drinking experience. If you drink faster than one drink
every 2 hours, your BAL will climb. For example: a 150 lb.
male goes to a bar at 8 PM, eats nothing, and drinks six
beers before midnight. During the 4 hours, his liver metabolized
the alcohol from 2 of the beers, so he still has 4 drinks
equal to 2 oz. of ethanol in his system. His BAL at midnight
should be about 0.10%, legally drunk under our present law
and unfit to drive home. If he had two fewer beers over
the 4 hour period his BAL would be about 0.05%. Result?.....Less
profit for bar owners and the alcohol beverage industry,
BUT fewer injured or dead due to a drunken driver as statistically
proven by those 15 states which already have a .08% upper
limit.
Two years ago, New Jersey's then Attorney
General, using the very same language as that of the beverage
industry, stated that lowering New Jersey's legal blood
alcohol limit to .08% would create "a major change
to our system and I don't see any convincing argument for
it." Oh?..... When studies estimate that a nationwide
lowering of the limit would result in 500 deaths yearly?.....When
states that lowered the threshold have seen an immediate
drop in alcohol related death rates of 13%?...When it is
estimated that there would be 40 fewer yearly deaths in
New Jersey alone? Am I satisfied?....Not yet!
|
