Experts Support Lower Blood Alcohol Content Limit to Reduce Drunk Driving Deaths

Experts say states should lower their drunk-driving limit from a blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 to .05 to reduce the number of fatal car crashes, The New York Times reports.

A year after Utah lowered its allowable BAC from .08 to .05 in 2018, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that fatal car crashes in the state were reduced by almost 20%. Utah is currently the only state with a .05 BAC limit. All other states have a .08 limit.

Other countries, including Australia, France, Thailand and about 50 other nations, have a BAC limit of .05. The limit is even lower in more than 30 other countries.

The NHTSA recently found that U.S. drunk-driving deaths rose about 33% between 2019 and 2022. Several states, including New York, Washington, Hawaii and Connecticut, are now considering legislation to reduce the legal BAC driving limit.

“We’re losing, on the highways these days, more than 13,000 people a year,” said Thomas Chapman, a member of the National Transportation Safety Board. “I mean, it’s just an astonishing number.”