Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, February 4, 1994                   TAG: 9402040149
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: BY GREG SCHNEIDER STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: RICHMOND                                LENGTH: Medium

MADD FOUNDER NOW LOBBIES AGAINST STRICTER DUI LIMIT

She was Candace Lightner, who founded the nationwide Mothers Against Drunk Driving group in 1980 after her daughter was killed by a drunken driver. Lightner was there to speak against tightening the standard that determines whether a driver is intoxicated.

"I am opposed to passing laws which simply feel good and accomplish little," Lightner told the House Courts of Justice Committee.

The committee was taking up a sweeping bill, sponsored by House Majority Leader Richard Cranwell, D-Roanoke County, to reform Virginia's handling of drunk drivers. Highlights include:

Allowing police to seize the license of any driver who scores above the legal blood-alcohol limit on a breath test.

Imposing a "zero tolerance" standard on drivers under age 21, so they would be presumed intoxicated with a blood-alcohol content of 0.02 percent or more.

Lowering the level at which over-21 drivers are presumed drunk from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent, making Virginia's law one of the 10 toughest in the nation.

It is that third aspect that Lightner showed up to oppose; she favors the rest, she said.

She caused tension before she even opened her mouth.

"I think it is imperative that all of you and all the state recognize that Ms. Lightner has not been affiliated with MADD since 1985 and is a . . . representative of the [American] Beverage Institute," said Cheryl Burrell, leader of the Virginia chapter of MADD.

Lightner works for a Washington, D.C., public relations firm that represents the beverage institute, which in turn represents restaurants and the hospitality industry.

"Are you saying we shouldn't believe her? Are you saying she's prejudiced?" asked Del. Alan Mayer, D-Fairfax.

"No, no, no, no. . . . We're all biased. I'm biased in favor of a stronger DUI law," Burrell said.

But Lightner said later that she reached her position only after shedding her bias and emotion. Years of research, she said, persuaded her that you have to go after drivers with higher blood-alcohol content, not lower.

Less than 10 percent of alcohol-related fatalities involve drivers with an alcohol content lower than 0.10 percent, she said. "Lowering the [blood-alcohol limit] places a tremendous strain on police officials and the criminal justice system with no appreciable benefit," she said.

Most of the evening's other speakers disagreed. Representatives of police departments, the state forensics lab and the National Transportation Safety Board said drivers should be considered impaired with a blood-alcohol content as low as 0.05 percent.

And the debate is just beginning. Cranwell's bill was assigned to a subcommittee for more study. Similar measures will come up soon in the Senate.

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GENERAL ASSEMBLY 1994