The government of Queensland, Australia is considering lowering the state’s legal limit to.02 BAC (blood alcohol concentration). The current limit is already quite low at.05 BAC. The Sunday Mail reports:
“A general alcohol limit of less than .05 may require people to abstain from drinking any alcohol on social occasions – for some people this may be only one standard drink – before driving.”
Several European countries already have set their legal limit at.02 – making criminals out of responsible drinkers. In the U.S., the average BAC of a drunk driver in a fatal crash is .19 – that’s more than double our legal limit of .08. And it’s a far cry from the moderate, responsible drinkers that are targeted by ultra-low legal limits.
New laws should go after the high-BAC and repeat-offenders that cause the vast majority of fatalities. But, you can bet that it won’t be long before anti-alcohol groups call for the U.S. to lower its legal limit. Or maybe your car will just start locking you out for having a glass of beer or wine with dinner.
