None for the Road
It is unfortunate that staff writer Allan Parachini’s otherwise excellent update, “Cracking Down on Drunk Drivers: Physicians Press for New Limits on Blood Alcohol Levels,” neglected to report why “even three beers might be too much” for the road. Several studies have already been conducted in this country and in others that show clearly that even with one average drink the average person is already impaired for driving. That is why U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg and the U.S. Department of Transportation have understood well that a .04% of blood alcohol concentration is a reasonable and “legal definition of impairment for drivers of commercial vehicles.”
Finally, if America’s 15 to 24 age category, which dies chiefly from alcohol-related traffic accidents, is to dramatically reduce its self-destruction, not only must today’s unconscionable .10% BAC be halved, but also the ubiquitous availability of alcoholic beverages--whether on every corner, every other billboard, and every TV and radio set.
RAY CHAVIRA
Board Member
California Council on Alcohol
Problems
San Gabriel
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