Tougher Drunk-Driving Law

California has the opportunity to become only the fourth state in the country to make tough anti-drunk driving laws even tougher. A bill by state Sen. Bill Leonard (R-Big Bear) could accomplish that by lowering the legal blood- alcohol level. The change in the level would be slight--in real terms, the equivalent of one beer in an hour--but enough to significantly lower the number of persons and cars mangled in alcohol-related car accidents.

The bill, which was overwhelmingly approved in the Assembly and awaits a vote in the Senate, would decrease the legal blood-alcohol standard for driving under the influence from .10 to .08. In Maine, where legislators enacted a .08 level two years ago, the number of alcohol-related car accidents already has dropped 30%.

Officials there say that is a direct reflection of the change in the standard: Not only are more impaired drivers being pulled off the road, but more drivers are exercising more care when drinking. The public awareness and some might say plain fear of the stricter law have as much to do with deterrence as the enforcement of the law.

Various medical professionals who have studied the affects of alcohol, including the American Medical Assn., have concluded that even taking into account differences in size and weight, the average person’s motor, hand-eye coordination and depth perception skills begin to deteriorate at an .05 level. The .08 driving-under-the-influence level suggested by Leonard--the approximate equivalent of four to five 1-ounce undiluted alcoholic drinks over two hours--is a compromise that he admits is designed to get political support and to avoid a public perception of a .05 standard as harsh and unrealistic.

Critics of the Leonard bill say the .08 standard will undoubtedly make it easier to convict and fine offenders. It will not, they suggest, necessarily lead to safer roads. But that argument fails in light of the latest medical information about how easily our reactions become impaired by drinking alcohol. Headlights seem to blur, lanes blend, an object moving slowly seems to be moving quickly. And that signal changing from yellow to red surely will stay fixed at caution just long enough to speed through. Or will it?

Maine, Utah and Oregon are the only states that have the stricter blood-alcohol standard. With approval by the state Senate and Gov. George Deukmejian, California can be next. As the nation’s largest state, and the one with the most cars and drivers, what we do here could steer others in the right direction.