Opinion: Lower the legal limit to save Maryland lives
Naomi Greene
In November 2019, Governor Larry Hogan spoke at the 16th annual ceremony commemorating Marylanders that were killed by drunk drivers. At the commemoration ceremony, Governor Hogan said “we must continue to do everything in our power to save lives and to prevent future tragedies.”
Between 2013 and 2017, 17,236 Marylanders were injured or killed in motor vehicle crashes with impaired drivers. Alcohol-impaired drivers caused more than a third of all fatal motor vehicle traffic crashes in Maryland in 20173. And one in five Maryland middle school students report riding in a car with someone who had been drinking. These figures show that our current drunk driving laws are not enough. It’s time to look for more solutions.
When Prohibition ended in 1933, the United States government took a lax approach to regulating drinking and driving. Guidelines created by the National Safety Council and the American Medical Association in 1939 stated that individuals with a BAC less than 0.15 should not be considered under the influence. Even if an individual were pulled over and presumed to be intoxicated, they could refute the evidence in court and escape criminal punishment. In 1983, Utah became the first state to change the legal limit to 0.08 and limit the use of evidence to escape punishment. Other states were slow to follow suit. In 2000, the federal government forced states to reduce their legal limit to 0.08 or risk loosing funds for highway infrastructure.
Currently, the National Transportation Safety Board recommends that states reduce the legal limit from 0.08 to 0.058. Scientists agree that impairment from alcohol begins well before the current 0.08 legal limit. At a 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC), individuals have reduced reaction time, increased drowsiness, and trouble with basic driving tasks including braking, lane changing, and steering. The risk of dying in a motor vehicle crash also increases 4-fold among drivers with a 0.05 BAC, compared to drivers with no alcohol in their system. A study conducted by researchers at the University of Florida found that 360 lives per year were saved from alcohol-impaired motor vehicle crashes across all states that reduced their legal limit from 0.10 to 0.08 in the 1980s and 1990s. We could save an additional 538 lives per year by reducing the limit to 0.056.
Lowering the legal limit complements current drunk driving policies in Maryland. Since 2016, the legislature and Governor Hogan have bolstered DUI laws by mandating ignition interlocks for first time offenders and increasing license fees and suspension periods after a DUI. Ignition interlocks are devices linked to a vehicle ignition system. Drivers breath into the device, which registers their BAC. The vehicle will not start if the device registers a BAC above 0.08. Lowering the legal limit can further reduce the number of people who drive under the influence. Under this policy, law enforcement will catch more impaired drivers. These drivers will have to enroll in the ignition interlock program and will not be able to use their vehicles if they have even one drink. And the policy can have a dramatic effect on people’s decisions to drink and drive.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 108 countries have illegal BAC limits of 0.05 or less for the general population. Utah became the first state to reduce the legal limit from 0.08 to 0.05 with a new law enacted on December 31, 2018. The Utah Department of Public Safety reported that the new law has contributed to a decrease in alcohol-related motor vehicle fatalities in the state. Currently, the New York State Legislature is considering a bill to reduce the state’s DUI limit to 0.0513.
On December 5, 2019 – less than two weeks after the ceremony in Annapolis – 15-year-old Trinity Brooks was killed by a drunk driver. So, I implore the Maryland State Legislature and Governor Hogan to consider lowering the legal limit. We should ask ourselves what we stand to lose if we don’t.
For more information about the advocacy to reduce drunk driving in the United States, check out “One More for the Road: Drunk Driving since 1900” by Barron H. Lerner.
References
1. 16th Annual Ceremony Held in Annapolis to Honor Victims of Drunk Driving Crashes [Internet]. [cited 2020 Feb 24]. Available from: https://www.thebaynet.com/articles/1119/16th-annual-ceremony-held-in-annapolis-to-honor-victims-of-drunk-driving-crashes.html
2. Maryland Department of Transportation. 2018 Maryland imparied driving prevention program area brief [Internet]. [cited 2018 Nov 27]. Available from: http://www.mva.maryland.gov/safety/mhso/FY19_Impaired_ProgramAreaBriefFINAL.pdf
3. National Center for Statistics and Analysis. Alcohol-impaired driving: 2017 data [Internet]. Washington, D.C.; 2018 [cited 2018 Nov 27]. Available from: https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/812630
4. Maryland Department of Health. 2016 Youth Risk Behavior Survey Results: Maryland High School Survey Summary Tables [Internet]. [cited 2018 Nov 28]. Available from: https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/ccdpc/Reports/Pages/YRBS-Main.aspx
5. Novak M. Drunk Driving and The Pre-History of Breathalyzers [Internet]. [cited 2020 Feb 26]. Available from: https://paleofuture.gizmodo.com/drunk-driving-and-the-pre-history-of-breathalyzers-1474504117
6. Wagenaar AC, Maldonado-Molina MM, Ma L, Tobler AL, Komro KA. Effects of legal BAC limits on fatal crash involvement: analyses of 28 states from 1976 through 2002. J Safety Res. 2007;38(5):493–9.
7. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Legislative History of 0.08 Per Se Laws [Internet]. [cited 2020 Feb 26]. Available from: https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/alcohol-laws/08history/
8. Thompson C. Federal agency says lowering legal limit could cut DUI deaths. The Baltimore Sun [Internet]. May; Available from: https://www.baltimoresun.com/maryland/bs-md-drunken-driving-20130514-story.html
9. Moskowitz H, Florentino D. A review of the literature on the effects of low doses of alcohol on driving-related skills [Internet]. Springfield, VA; 2000 [cited 2018 Dec 20]. p. 1–62. Available from: https://one.nhtsa.gov/people/injury/research/pub/hs809028/title.htm
10. Maryland Department of Transportation. New laws impacting Maryland drivers to take effect October 1 [Internet]. 2016 [cited 2020 Feb 24]. Available from: http://www.mdot.maryland.gov/News/Releases2016/2016_Sept_27_New_MVA_Laws_Effective_October_1
11. World Health Organization. Legal BAC limits by country [Internet]. [cited 2018 Nov 11]. Available from: http://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.A1147?lang=en&showonly=GISAH
12. Blowers C. Utah DPS: DUI crashes, fatalities down, but arrests remain consistent under .05 blood alcohol law [Internet]. St. George News. 2019 [cited 2020 Feb 26]. Available from: https://www.stgeorgeutah.com/news/archive/2019/07/11/cgb-utah-dps-dui-crashes-fatalities-down-but-arrests-remain-consistent-under-05-blood-alcohol-law/#.XlZ3wGhKg2z
13. Slattery D. New York lawmakers weigh changing how drunk is too drunk to drive [Internet]. New York Daily News. 2020 [cited 2020 Feb 26]. Available from: https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-new-york-politicians-want-to-lower-legal-blood-alcohol-content-20200129-l242snw5yrbmnpns3amcm225nu-story.html
14. Menitoff R. Jennifer Jean Jones Had 94 Bottles Of Liquor, Drugs In Her Car When She Reportedly Struck, Killed 15-Year-Old Trinity Brooks [Internet]. [cited 2020 Feb 26]. Available from: https://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2019/12/05/dundalk-fatal-pedestrian-crash-trinity-brooks-latest/