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Beginning Sunday, the state will lower its blood alcohol limit to 0.05, the country's strictest level of impaired driving.
"Despite decades of public campaigns and other efforts to discourage driving after alcohol consumption, data from survey and observation. Show that many people continue to do, "said the Utah Department of Public Safety.
All other states continue to set a limit of 0.08 for non-commercial drivers over the age of 21, a level that the National Transportation Safety Board has pushed
"We have recommended a rate of Alcohol level of 0.05 (blood alcohol level) to states since 2013, and we are pleased that Utah is the first to complete this recommendation, "said Bella Dinh-Zarr, NTSB member . "We believe this will be a great stimulus for other states and an encouragement to do the same."
She said that nearly 100 countries with such a law record a lower alcohol-related death rate, even though their citizens drink as much alcohol per capita as Americans. .
In the United States, the number of deaths due to impaired driving has decreased by a third in the last 30 years, but nearly 29 people still die each day in an accident linked to alcohol, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
"A Broad Dissuasion" of Drunk Driving
In a statement released earlier this year, Sarah Longwell, Executive Director of the American Beverage Institute, s & # 39 is opposed to legislation, adding that a 0.05 alcohol level did not leave drivers "significantly impaired."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that a level of 0.05% equates to about three alcoholic drinks for a man of average height. According to the CDC, at these levels, driver co – ordination, difficulty of steering, the ability to track moving objects, and a slower response to driving in an emergency situation are generally reduced.
Dinh-Zarr, of the NTSB, said the new Utah law would likely cause people to think seriously about the possibility of driving while impaired.
"This broad deterrent prevents anyone, regardless of their degree of alcohol consumption, from getting behind the wheel," she said. "It's an encouragement to make the right decision so that they do not hurt themselves, nor do they hurt anyone else."
Those who worry about drunk drivers should be the strongest supporters of similar legislation across the country, Dinh-Zarr added.
"It saves lives … just by separating alcohol and driving," she said, estimating that nearly 1,500 people across the country could be saved each year if all states adopted a law relating to alcohol at 0.05.
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