TOUGHER DUI LAWS PAY OFF

Although the Missouri Legislature didn't pass a tougher impaired driving law the last time it came up for a vote, the issue isn't likely to die.

Statistics show a noticeable decrease in injuries and deaths in states that have adopted stricter measures.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 17,461 people in the United States were killed in alcohol-related accidents in 1993. In 1991, 19,987 were killed in alcohol-related accidents.

The 12 percent decrease has saved 2,426 lives in only two years.

States with tougher impaired driving laws make driving while intoxicated arrests automatic when the blood-alcohol content is at .08. In Missouri, the automatic arrest is made when the BAC is at .10.

The act of driving at or above .08 is against the law, regardless of whether the driver shows signs of intoxication, such as erratic driving, slurred speech and an unsteady walk.

This is known as the per se law. Most industrialized nations, such as Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Scandinavian countries, have set illegal BACs at .08 or lower.

As of April, 11 states have an illegal per se law at the .08 BAC level. Thirty-five states and the District of Columbia have illegal per se laws at .10 BAC. Four states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico have no illegal per se law.

The reason for the push to adopt stricter driver impairment laws is that recent studies show that virtually all drinkers have some impairment in critical driving tasks at .08 BAC.

Other research shows that the higher the BAC, particularly above .08, the greater the risk of having an accident. By lowering the illegal per se level to .08, the amount of drivers who could be arrested increases. Thus, the deterrent is greater.

The .08 BAC illegal per se laws also increase the probability of conviction because the definition of "impaired" is much more specific and easier to prove than it is under other driving under the influence and DWI laws.

The NHTS is studying five states that have had .08 legislation since 1990. Four show significant decreases in alcohol-related deaths in nine different measures.

There also is evidence that California's 12 percent reduction in alcohol-related deaths during the year can be attributed, at least in part, to the state's lowering of the legal BAC limit to .08.

In Maine, fatal night crashes have declined 19 percent in the three years since .08 became law. Other states show smaller declines since their adoption of laws similar to California's and Maine's.

It is illegal in every state for people under 21 to buy and publicly possess alcoholic beverages. It also is illegal for people under 21 who have been drinking to drive. A zero tolerance law makes it illegal per se for people under 21 to drive with any measurable alcohol in their blood.

As of September, 26 states and the District of Columbia had established lower blood-alcohol concentrations for youthful drivers. Seventeen states and the District of Columbia have adopted illegal per se levels of .00, .01 or .02 BAC for drivers under 21.

To be effective, a zero tolerance law should allow a police officer to require a breath test from drivers under 21 if the officer has probable cause to believe the driver has been drinking.

If the driver refuses the test or the test reveals a measurable alcohol level, then the driver should be subject to sanctions, including loss of his driver's license.

Some 2,364 youths, ages 15 to 20, died in the United States in alcohol-related crashes in 1993. In Missouri, 17 percent of the drivers killed in alcohol-related crashes were under 21. This despite the fact that those under 21 only account for 7 percent of the driving population.