Thursday, March 30, 2000
Some doubt usefulness of lowered alcohol limit
BY SUSAN VELA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Kentucky legislators seem determined to lower the state's legal blood-alcohol level to 0.08 from 0.10, but many doubt that two-hundredths of a point will make a smidgen of difference.
They say some hard-core drinkers will keep drinking and driving no matter how low the alcohol limit.
“Those people are still going to get behind a car. They're going to drive anyway. That's very unfortunate,” said Don Buring, Kenton County commonwealth attorney.
He and others believe the switch has been needed since 1988, when a drunken driver's pickup slammed into a church bus in Carrollton and killed 27 people on an interstate highway. It was the nation's worst drunken-driving accident.
On Tuesday, the Kentucky Senate voted 38-0 to lower the legal blood-alcohol limit for motorists. It has returned to the House for consideration of minor Senate changes.
Similar bills were introduced in 1996 and 1998 but did not pass. The bill of two years ago easily passed the House 90-4 but died in the Senate without a vote. The Kentucky Restaurant Association had lobbied heavily against it.
Janey Fair of Radcliff, whose 14-year-old daughter, Shannon, died in the Carrollton crash, has pushed for the 0.08 blood-alcohol level as an activist for Mothers Against Drunk Driving. Resistance against the drop has amazed her.
“The easy answer would be that the hospitality lobby was so strong in Kentucky but it was also the attitude of legislators,” she said. “They were just arro gant and ugly.”
She believes that the latest push was successful because there are new legislators in Frankfort and a public campaign against drinking and driving has gained noticeable support.
Mark Shircliffe, executive vice president of the Kentucky Restaurant Association, still believes that the change to 0.08 will affect hotels and restaurants, where alcohol sales comprise up to 30 percent of their sales.
Couples at such venues will be more likely to buy a single glass of wine instead of entire bottles.
“It's a feel-good measure that doesn't address the real substantial problems,” he said.
He contends that the vast majority of drunken-driving crashes are caused by drivers whose blood-alcohol levels are about 0.15.
Some Northern Kentucky bar and restaurant managers say the new blood-alcohol levels might cause people to drink less and be more conscious about having designated drivers or enough money for a taxi ride home.
“I know I'd cut back,” said Terri Bernstein, manager of Sloppy Joe's and Howl at the Moon Saloon in Newport. “It's not going to keep them from drinking. But it'll maybe keep them from driving.”
DRINK MEASURES
A 0.08 blood-alcohol level translates to, in one hour, about two to three drinks for a 130-pound woman and four to five drinks for a 180-pound man. That's a drink less than was recommended at the legal 0.10 level.
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