U.S. safety board proposes tougher drunk-driving threshold (0.08 to 0.05)

[chemgear]

Interesting. Discussion to follow or not in Canada?

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/us/nts...hol/index.html

A decade-old benchmark for determining when a driver is legally drunk -- the 0.08 blood-alcohol content rate -- should be lowered in an effort to reduce alcohol-related car crashes that claim about 10,000 lives each year, U.S. safety officials said on Tuesday.

The National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all 50 states lower the threshold to 0.05. The idea is part of a safety board initiative to eliminate drunk driving, which accounts for about a third of all road deaths.

[undercoverbrother]

The only thing that can save you from a drunk driver, is being a drunk driver.

[keenan87]

Isn't Alberta already 0.05?

[St. Pats]

Personally I can't wait for the day where you have to pass a breathalyzer test to start your vehicle. The tech already exists and should be mandatory for every vehicle.

[zukes]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Isn't Alberta already 0.05?

I don't know about Alberta but Ontario is.

[Yasa]

I don't think this is going to stop or slow down drunk driving. People either drink and drive because they don't care, or because they feel "ok to drive." 0.05 or 0.08 won't make a difference to either person. The only way to stop drunk driving is to

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Yasa

I don't think this is going to stop or slow down drunk driving. People either drink and drive because they don't care, or because they feel "ok to drive." 0.05 or 0.08 won't make a difference to either person. The only way to stop drunk driving is to

go on....

[valo403]

The problem with this, and it's been discussed ad nauseum in other threads here, is that people in the lower ranges aren't the ones who are causing the majority of the deadly accidents. The people that need to be targeted with tougher sentencing are those who are blowing well above .08 and the repeat offenders, as the studies cited in those threads showed they were far more likely to be involved in a serious accident.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by keenan87

Isn't Alberta already 0.05?

Given the government moved to a guilty-until-proven-innocent model, it effectively is, yes.

[_Q_]

This is garbage.

[afc wimbledon]

If they really want to reduce drunk driving let small pubs start up in residential areas so you don't have to drive to the pub, never had to drive once to get to a pub in London

[Table 5]

I don't think it's necessarily the exact alcohol content that's the problem, it's the fact that the punishment for this sentence is so light for repeat offenders, that it seems like you have to kill someone before there's any real consequence (and even then it doesn't seem that harsh), and most of the guys who drive around drunk don't really give a crap. So we have to do our best to get them off the roads. Personally, I think the drunk driving rules have to get a little more draconian in order to do make a dent.

1st offense - 6 month license suspension. We all make mistakes, but you're gonna pay.
2nd offense - Lifetime suspension. Sorry Charlie, you had your chance.
Driving while suspended - A year of jail per offense, no parole.

Driving is dangerous enough as is, but few things are as senseless and preventable, as doing it drunk.

[CaptainCrunch]

They're takin away our guns.

FREEDOM!!!!

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

If they really want to reduce drunk driving let small pubs start up in residential areas so you don't have to drive to the pub, never had to drive once to get to a pub in London

As someone who has staggered home from local pubs more times than I can count, every neighbourhood in Calgary has at least 2-4 pubs per neighbourhood.

The problem is more that a lot of them are terrible/depressing, rather than they aren't "allowed".

Also Calgarians hate walking for some reason, and we have a bull#### amount of cabs for our city size, so drunk drivers are par for the course.

[undercoverbrother]

Originally Posted by PsYcNeT

As someone who has staggered home from local pubs more times than I can count, every neighbourhood in Calgary has at least 2-4 pubs per neighbourhood.

The problem is more that a lot of them are terrible/depressing, rather than they aren't "allowed".

Also Calgarians hate walking in the freezing cold, and we have a bull#### amount of cabs for our city size, so drunk drivers are par for the course.

changed it a bit

[PsYcNeT]

Originally Posted by undercoverbrother

changed it a bit

Piffle. Cold doesn't matter when yer drinkin' (unless you're with the wife, in which case, yeah, cold matters).

[Joborule]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I don't think it's necessarily the exact alcohol content that's the problem, it's the fact that the punishment for this sentence is so light for repeat offenders, that it seems like you have to kill someone before there's any real consequence (and even then it doesn't seem that harsh), and most of the guys who drive around drunk don't really give a crap. So we have to do our best to get them off the roads. Personally, I think the drunk driving rules have to get a little more draconian in order to do make a dent.

1st offense - 6 month license suspension. We all make mistakes, but you're gonna pay.
2nd offense - Lifetime suspension. Sorry Charlie, you had your chance.
Driving while suspended - A year of jail per offense, no parole.

Driving is dangerous enough as is, but few things are as senseless and preventable, as doing it drunk.

It's so bloody obvious this is what should be done but noooo, government won't outright do the right thing.

The only people that kill people are the actual drunk drivers that are way above the limit. Nothing is being done against them, but we continue to penalize the general citizen for the problems they cause. Such BS.

[puckluck2]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

If they really want to reduce drunk driving let small pubs start up in residential areas so you don't have to drive to the pub, never had to drive once to get to a pub in London

Wait, where do you live?

There are tonnes of pubs in residential areas in Calgary.

[GGG]

Now that I dont drink regularly I am definately impaired at .08. When I drank a lot I was probably at .12 at the same level of impairment. I favour lowering the limit.

[SebC]

Originally Posted by afc wimbledon

If they really want to reduce drunk driving let small pubs start up in residential areas so you don't have to drive to the pub, never had to drive once to get to a pub in London

Please compare the density of London to the density of Calgary. For a business to be successful and walkable it needs to have sufficient population within its walkable radius.

People who live in the Beltline don't have this problem, except when their friends want to go out to suburban drinking establishments. And that's where cabs/transit come into play (or would if Calgary had late-night transit).