ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 22, 1996 TAG: 9609230080
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: RICHMOND
SOURCE: Associated Press
Virginia's decision to lower the acceptable blood-alcohol level for drivers coincided with significant drops in drunken-driving arrests and alcohol-related traffic fatalities, state police said.
In 1994, Virginia became one of 13 states to drop its blood-alcohol threshold to 0.08 percent. The other states define driving while intoxicated as a blood-alcohol level of 0.10.
Throughout Virginia, police agencies reported that the number of drunken-driving arrests dropped from 35,318 in 1993 to 31,056 in 1995. During the same period, the number of alcohol-related fatalities dropped from 397 to 360.
The numbers bolster a report released Friday. The study by Ralph Hingson of Boston University's School of Public Health said more than 500 lives could be saved every year if all states lowered their blood-alcohol limit for driving to 0.08 percent.
The report found that the first five states to adopt the 0.08 threshold saw a combined 16 percent drop in alcohol-related fatal crashes. The study compares the experiences of Utah, Oregon, Maine, California and Vermont with those of five neighboring states that had the higher blood-alcohol level of 0.10.
Police officials lined up with Mothers Against Drunk Driving in favor of lowering the blood-alcohol limit.
``The changes in attitude of our society out there have made it so that 0.08 is needed,'' said Lt. Col. Gerald Massengill, head of Virginia State Police uniformed patrol operations.
``We know from all the tests and experiments that at a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08, you are truly impaired,'' he said. ``I think the public is prepared to accept a 0.08. Years ago, you had to be staggering drunk before you were considered impaired. [The lower level] is not just out there to penalize people, but has reality attached to it when it comes to impairment.''
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