Drunk driving is a continual problem on California roads. In order to combat this deadly danger, a new state bill has been proposed which would lower the legal blood-alcohol level for drivers in California to .05%. ABC 7 News reports that California law makers are considering the bill, AB 1713, to reduce the amount of alcohol you can legally have in your system when you drive by .03%, as California’s current limit is .08%.
This idea to lower the legal blood alcohol level to .05% came after the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report recommending lowering the drunken-driving threshold from .08% to .05%. This recommendation was made in hopes that it will reduce the number of alcohol-impaired deaths that occur each year in America. “Driving under the influence is blamed for some 10,000 deaths a year…Each day, 29 people in the U.S. die in alcohol-related crashes. Forty-percent of those killed are not the drunken driver.”
Many supporters of this bill believe it is necessary because “current blood alcohol content (BAC) is too high and leaves more drivers impaired, which results in more deadly crashes.” Studies show that for a driver with a blood alcohol level of .05%-.079% “the risk of being in a fatal crash is at least seven times higher than for drivers with no alcohol in their system.”
The .05% limit is not an entirely new concept in California as commercial drivers must already abide by this limit when driving. As of now, the only other state to adopt this lower limit is the state of Utah.
Drunk driving fatalities and personal injuries are all too prevalent in California, and the most frustrating aspect of these accidents is that every single one of them is preventable. The main goal behind this specific law is prevention—by lowering the legal limit, the hope is that more intoxicated and impaired drivers will be stopped from ever getting on the road and thus accidents causing serious injuries and wrongful deaths can be avoided. It will be interesting to see if the California legislature chooses to pass this proposed law.
When you are a victim of a drunk driving accident, your life is certainly changed instantaneously. Personal injuries received in these types of accidents are often very serious and require extensive and expensive medical care. If you have been the victim of a drunk driving accident, you should contact an experienced DUI personal injury attorney to discuss your options as soon as possible. A skilled attorney can help you bring a personal injury claim against the driver that carelessly chose to drive while under the influence—that driver will be liable for the costs of your injuries. Financial recovery from a personal injury claim can help cover hospital bills and other physical recovery expenses, including loss of wages if you are unable to work.
If you are dealing with person injuries as a result of a Southern California DUI accident, the skilled attorneys at Walch Law can help. We have years of experience handling both personal injury and wrongful death cases that result from DUI accidents. We are available to meet with you in a free consultation to discuss your options and give you direction on how to proceed. Contact us online or by phone at 866-465-8792.