The National Transportation Safety Board recommended on Tuesday that states across the U.S. lower their legal blood alcohol content limit from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent, reports The New York Times.
Government statistics show that a driver with a BAC of 0.05 percent is 38 percent more likely to experience a motor-vehicle accident than those drivers who are completely sober. Those drivers with a BAC of 0.08 are 169 percent more likely. 
The NTSB stated that thousands of people die or sustain injuries each year because of drivers who are legally allowed to drive, but experience impaired vision, decision-making, and vehicle operation because of alcohol consumption.
The 0.08 limit standard was established ten years ago, and the progress to reduce drunk driving deaths has reached a stalemate, with around 10,000 deaths yearly.
A 0.05 percent limit is already in place in the majority of the industrialized world. The United States adopted the 0.08 limit in 2000 when then President Bill Clinton signed a law that would not allow states to obtain construction money if they refused to take up that standard.
The NTSB found that countries with a lower legal limit had much more success in preventing drunk driving deaths. While some of the board’s considerations were aimed at repeat and heavy drinkers, the 0.05 percent recommendation was made in the hopes of preventing both heavy and social drinkers from getting behind the wheel when impaired.
Not everyone agrees with the recommendation. Sarah Longwell, a managing director at the American Beverage Institute stated that, “Moving from 0.08 to 0.05 would criminalize perfectly responsible behavior…further restriction of moderate consumption of alcohol by responsible adults prior to driving does nothing to stop hard-core drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel.”
Around 30 percent of all fatal motor vehicle accidents are caused by intoxicated drivers, a number that has decreased from 50 percent in the last 30 years. Highway deaths across the nation have been falling because of increased seat-belt use, improved highways, and advances in car design.
We will keep you updated as this story unfolds.
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