Editorial: Drinkers beware: 0.08 is new limit

Wednesday, Sept. 24, 2003 | 8:48 a.m.

Debate over whether it's best to have 0.10 or 0.08 as our state's blood-alcohol limit for drivers became pointless on Tuesday. For the past 15 years the debate had raged and the Legislature had always come down on the side of the higher limit. The 2003 Legislature, however, acted on a powerful incentive to finally join with most other states in setting the 0.08 limit -- the state was facing the loss of millions in federal highway funding if it didn't. The new law went into effect Tuesday and, like it or not, drivers must adapt or face the consequences.

In a meeting Monday with the Las Vegas Sun Editorial Board, Sheriff Bill Young noted what happened over the Labor Day weekend at two sobriety checkpoints manned by Metro Police. Of 86 drivers tested, 21 were arrested for drunken driving. Had the new law been in effect, an additional 47 would have been arrested too, as their blood-alcohol content ranged from 0.08 to 0.099. "I urge everyone to reassess their drinking habits," Young said.

The advice is sound, from the standpoint of individuals who otherwise will risk their driving records, and from the standpoint of the community as a whole, which we believe will become safer. National statistics show that deaths related to drunken driving have dropped at least 8 percent in the states that have lowered their limit to 0.08. According to Metro, 213 people died in traffic accidents within its jurisdiction last year and so far this year, with one-third of the deaths -- 71 -- attributable to drunken driving. An 8 percent reduction for us would have meant six fewer deaths. That's an incalculable gain for the small sacrifice of scaling back on social drinking.