Some food for thought this Memorial Day Weekend
The National Traffic Safety Board (NTSB) just announced their recommendation to lower the blood alcohol content (B.A.C.) limit from .08 to .05 for those operating a motor vehicle.
Only ten years ago, on September 30th, 2003, the Pennsylvania Legislature signed into law Act 24. The new law applied a tiered approach to DUIs and the 1st tier was set at a BAC of .08. Previously, it had been legal to operate a motor vehicle in Pennsylvania with a BAC of less than .10.
I’ve defended countless individuals in Pa. charged with Drunk Driving – DUI and it’s pretty rare to have cases where the BAC comes back below a .10 let alone a .08. Lowering the limit again will result in more DUI charges for people that feel they are able to drive. Although there is some debate over whether or not lowering the limit will result in fewer drunk driving deaths, the BAC limit is still much higher than numerous other countries where there are no tolerance laws, meaning that if you have any alcohol registering in your system, you are charged with drunk driving.
