PROSECUTOR URGES LOWER BAC LIMIT

Cape Girardeau County's prosecuting attorney Sunday called for local residents to urge their state legislators to lower the maximum blood-alcohol level that constitutes drunken driving.

Prosecutor Morley Swingle said Missouri should follow the lead of 16 states, including Illinois, that have lowered the BAC threshold to 0.08 percent.

Citing a Boston University study, Swingle said fatal accidents have declined 16 to 18 percent in states that have lowered their limit.

"Common sense tells us that lowering the level will make the roadways safer," Swingle said. "If the limit is lowered and people know it has been lowered, they will take even more precautions not to drink and drive. The deterrent effect would be tremendous."

Swingle made his comments during a candlelight vigil in rememberance of those killed or injured by drunken drivers.

The local chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving sponsored the annual vigil, which was held at Cape Girardeau Police Department headquarters.

Swingle praised area families of drunken-driving victims and anti-drunken-driving activists for their work in closing a loophole in a state law that didn't count a conviction for vehicular manslaughter as a prior DWI conviction. That meant that someone who had killed another person while driving drunk and was later charged with a DWI would be considered a first-time offender.

In 1996, Swingle urged the local MADD chapter to work to change the law, which the General Assembly did this year. Now, a prior conviction for vehicular manslaughter automatically makes any subsequent DWI charges felonies instead of misdemeanors.

Swingle said the battle to lower the BAC limit, which is currently 0.10 percent, will be tougher because deep-pocketed special interests such as Anheuser-Busch, the alcohol industry and restaurant groups are lobbying hard to keep the level the same.

"Big money wasn't against us on the manslaughter issue, but they are against us on the BAC issue," Swingle said. "This is one I can't do alone. This is one MADD officers can't do alone."

He urged supporters of lower limits to write their local state legislators and urge them to take action.

"Each one of you has a personal story that can give the legislators who support us more ammunition, and that can maybe make those who haven't come on board yet rethink their position," Swingle said.

Of the three state legislators who represent Cape Girardeau County, Swingle said Rep. Mary Kasten supports the lower limit, Sen. Peter Kinder opposes it and Rep. David Schwab is undecided.

Opposition claims that lowering the limit would make criminals out of social drinkers who consume alcohol in moderation simply aren't true, Swingle said.

Swingle said studies show that a driver's concentration, coordination, comprehension, reaction time and judgment are all greatly impaired with a 0.08 percent BAC level.

According to data from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, a person with a 0.08 percent BAC is three more likely to get in a crash than someone who hasn't had anything to drink. A person with a 0.10 percent BAC is 12 times more likely to have an accident.

A 200-pound man would, on average, have to drink five alcoholic beverages in one hour to reach a 0.08 percent BAC. A 137-pound woman would have to consume three beverages in an hour to reach that threshold.

Swingle said the argument that most DWI offenders are chronic alcoholics who won't be deterred by a lower limit is also false.

He said 75 percent of DWI prosecutions in Cape Girardeau County are against first-time offenders. Of the six cases he has filed in which a defendant killed someone while driving drunk, half had no prior DWI convictions.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 38.6 percent of all traffic fatalities are alcohol related.

Police Chief Rick Hetzel also spoke at the vigil. He said the department will continue to vigorously campaign against drunken driving.

He pointed to department efforts such as the Halloween night sobriety checkpoint at the Mississippi River bridge that resulted in 23 DWI arrests.

Hetzel dismisses criticism that such checkpoints are intrusive. "Perhaps those critics have never been to an accident scene where someone has been needlessly injured or killed," Hetzel said. "Perhaps those critics have never had to go to someone's house late at night to tell them that a loved one has been needlessly injured or killed."