ILLINOIS TIGHTENS LAW ON DRINKING AND DRIVING

Illinois has become the first state in the Midwest -- the 14th nationwide -- to lower the legal blood-alcohol limit for drivers from 0.10 to 0.08 percent.

During the first weekend it was in effect -- the long Fourth of July weekend -- 13 of the 130 people arrested for alleged drunken driving in Illinois registered between 0.08 and 0.10 percent. Those 13 would not have been charged had the legal blood-alcohol limit still been 0.10 percent.

Illinois' effort to get as many drunken drivers off the road as possible is admirable, and if the new law serves that purpose, then it is a good one. Authorities in other states that have lowered the limit to 0.08 percent say they have seen on average a 16 percent reduction in alcohol-related fatal crashes. Illinois can look forward to similar results.

But Illinois didn't go far enough in punishing those who drive under the influence of alcohol. While lowering the legal limit to 0.08 will get more incapacitated drivers off the roads, the penalty -- a suspended license for three months on a first offense -- remained unchanged.

In Missouri, where the legal limit is 0.10 percent, driving while intoxicated carries a much harsher one-year automatic suspension. Illinois would likely see fewer repeat offenders if it had extended the suspension period to one year as well.