Why don't they just go ahead and make it .00 -- that's what they'd really like to do:
WASHINGTON (AP) — States should cut their threshold for drunken driving by nearly half— from .08 blood alcohol level to .05_matching a standard that has substantially reduced highway deaths in other countries, a federal safety board recommended Tuesday. That's about one drink for a woman weighing less than 120 pounds, two for a 160-pound man.
More than 100 countries have adopted the .05 alcohol content standard or lower, according to a report by the staff of the National Transportation Safety Board. In Europe, the share of traffic deaths attributable to drunken driving was reduced by more than half within 10 years after the standard was dropped, the report said.
NTSB officials said it wasn't their intention to prevent drivers from having a glass of wine with dinner, but they acknowledged that under a threshold as low as .05 the safest thing for people who have only one or two drinks is not to drive at all.
One drink for a woman or two for a man? This would pretty much kill the whole stopping-for-a-drink-on-the-way-home-from-work thing, don't you think? Coupled with the smoking ban, which has hurt some businesses already, this would put some smaller places out of business. This probably isn't something we should lose any sleep over here in Indiana, though. Sen. Tom Wyss, who led the 11-year fight to change Indiana's lomit from 1.0 to .08, says he wouldn't undertake such an effort again:
Wyss said at the time that the law passed in part because the federal government was threatening to withhold significant amounts of transportation money from Indiana if it didn’t make the change.
On Tuesday, Wyss said he’s doubtful the General Assembly would consider reducing the level again – and it would be “nearly impossible” to bring the level to .05 percent.
It isn't widely known, but police in Indiana can already cite people with the .05 level, but only if the officer can prove impairment.
Oh, well. Let's just take our beer -- our warm beer -- home and sulk, shall we?
NDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Indiana convenience stores want to be able to sell cold beer. It's the reason they filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday.
You can buy beer at a convenience store in this state, but it must be warm. Convenience store owners say that's a violation of their constitutional rights.
"Indiana has the dubious distinction," says Scot Imus of the Indiana Petroleum Marketers and Convenience Store Association, "of being the only state that regulates beer sales based upon temperature."
It's a circumstance that led the three convenience store chains and their state association to file a federal lawsuit against the state agency that enforces alcohol laws, the Alcohol and Tobacco Commission.
"The constitutional claim at issue are pretty simple," said attorney John Maley. "It's to be treated equally, to be treated fairly."
One of the things pointed out in the lawsuit is the fact that convenience stores in Indiana can sell cold wine.
