On Tuesday, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) recommenced that all 50 states lower the threshold to the drinking and driving standard from 0.08 blood-alcohol content rate (BAC) to 0.05 BAC in an effort to curb the nation’s drunk driving death toll.
Lowering the rate to 0.05 would save about 500 to 800 lives every year, according to the NTSB.
The recommendations of the Board are only advisories. Therefore, it cannot impose any regulation but can recommend changes to Congress and other agencies.
“This is critical because impaired driving remains one of the biggest killers in the United States,” NTSB Chairman Debbie Hersman told CNN.
According to CNN, the board also recommended that states vastly expand laws allowing police to swiftly confiscate licenses from drivers who exceed the blood alcohol limits. The NTSB is also pushing for laws requiring all first-time offenders to have ignition locking devices that prevent cars from starting until breath samples are analyzed, CNN reports.
