WASHINGTON -- Federal accident investigators recommended Tuesday that states cut their threshold for drunken driving by nearly half, matching a standard that has substantially reduced highway deaths in other countries.
The National Transportation Safety Board said states should shrink the standard from the current .08 blood alcohol content to .05 as part of a series of recommendations aimed at reducing alcohol-related highway deaths.
"I know a buddy that killed somebody once. He did a lot of prison time over it so I think it's a good idea," said Tommie Sieber. "Too many people drinking and driving getting hammered and driving around so you can't have that crap."
"I think you would see a lot more borderline arrest," said Dayton DUI defense attorney Charles Rowland. "Dealing with the DUI's is expensive, it can be a huge inconvenience on your life and for a person to be stopped at .05 ...I don't know if anyone has been arrested but it's a life altering experience and that's not something we should make it easier that something we should make harder."
Mandy Adkins was arrested once for an OVI and also thinks at .05, the bar would be set too low.
"You have to do like a 72 hour program, you get six points on your license that stays there for three years, your insurance goes up you have a club on your car, you will have to get a breathalyzer that you pay a monthly fee for ....it's out-of-control," she said.
There are a lot of factors that come in play: how much alcohol content is in your drink, your weight, how long you've been drinking, and what else you may have been doing that night, so Going from .08 to .05 blood alcohol level doesn't tell you everything.
"You could have more stuff in your system which impairs you even more," said Fairborn Sgt. Paul Hicks.
He says believe it or not, the law actually won't significantly increase the amount of arrests because officers first have to have probable cause of impaired driving to stop you and they can arrest you for impaired driving before they ever see the results of a blood alcohol test.
"I would assume the majority are significantly above at like a 1.1 or higher," he added. "That's typical and you can get a few better under .08 but the law says you can't operate a vehicle while you're impaired. It also says you can operate a vehicle with prohibited concentration which right now is .08 so there are two different sides of the law that we are dealing with."
More than 100 countries have adopted the .05 alcohol content standard or lower, according to a report by the board's staff. 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.
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The National Transportation Safety Board said states should shrink the standard from the current .08 blood alcohol content to .05 as part of a series of recommendations aimed at reducing alcohol-related highway deaths.
"I know a buddy that killed somebody once. He did a lot of prison time over it so I think it's a good idea," said Tommie Sieber. "Too many people drinking and driving getting hammered and driving around so you can't have that crap."
"I think you would see a lot more borderline arrest," said Dayton DUI defense attorney Charles Rowland. "Dealing with the DUI's is expensive, it can be a huge inconvenience on your life and for a person to be stopped at .05 ...I don't know if anyone has been arrested but it's a life altering experience and that's not something we should make it easier that something we should make harder."
Mandy Adkins was arrested once for an OVI and also thinks at .05, the bar would be set too low.
"You have to do like a 72 hour program, you get six points on your license that stays there for three years, your insurance goes up you have a club on your car, you will have to get a breathalyzer that you pay a monthly fee for ....it's out-of-control," she said.
There are a lot of factors that come in play: how much alcohol content is in your drink, your weight, how long you've been drinking, and what else you may have been doing that night, so Going from .08 to .05 blood alcohol level doesn't tell you everything.
"You could have more stuff in your system which impairs you even more," said Fairborn Sgt. Paul Hicks.
He says believe it or not, the law actually won't significantly increase the amount of arrests because officers first have to have probable cause of impaired driving to stop you and they can arrest you for impaired driving before they ever see the results of a blood alcohol test.
"I would assume the majority are significantly above at like a 1.1 or higher," he added. "That's typical and you can get a few better under .08 but the law says you can't operate a vehicle while you're impaired. It also says you can operate a vehicle with prohibited concentration which right now is .08 so there are two different sides of the law that we are dealing with."
More than 100 countries have adopted the .05 alcohol content standard or lower, according to a report by the board's staff. 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.
Connect with ABC 22/FOX 45 Reporter Wale Aliyu on Facebook and Twitter.