On May 14 — the 25th anniversary of our nation’s deadliest drunk-driving crash, which killed 24 children and three adults in Carrollton, Ky. — the National Transportation Safety Board voted unanimously to issue recommendations to help this country eliminate alcohol-impaired driving.
The recommendations call for stronger laws, swifter enforcement and expanded use of technology for alcohol detection.
Bold actions are needed to achieve bold results.
Bold results are needed. In this country, on average, one person dies in a crash involving a drunk driver every hour. And every hour, 20 others are injured, including three with debilitating injuries. That adds up quickly to yearly totals of nearly 10,000 deaths and 173,000 injuries, including 27,000 people suffering life-altering injuries.
The annual price tag? Nearly $130 billion. The fact is, we can’t afford not to address this problem.
A great deal of progress occurred in the 1980s and 1990s, when states dropped blood alcohol content limits from 0.10 to 0.08 and raised the drinking age to 21. However, in the past decade, there have been few major steps and little improvement. In fact, momentum is stalled. Since 1995, drunk-driving deaths as a percentage of total highway fatalities have stubbornly remained around 30 percent.
That’s why the NTSB, an independent federal agency that investigates transportation accidents, conducts safety studies and issues recommendations to improve safety, sharpened its focus on alcohol-impaired driving. The set of 19 recommendations are the capstone of a year-long effort to thoroughly examine this national epidemic. The recommendation that calls on states to reduce the BAC limit to 0.05 or lower is getting the most attention.
The research shows that a driver with a BAC of 0.05 is 38 percent more likely to be involved in a fatal crash. When a driver’s BAC reaches 0.07, that crash risk is doubled. We also know that at 0.05, most drivers experience diminished visual function, increased drowsiness and decreased vigilance. Reducing the BAC limit will reduce crashes and save lives.
The United States has always been a world leader in transportation safety. Sadly, on this deadly issue, we are lagging behind the rest of the world. Worldwide, more than 100 countries on six continents have BAC limits of .05 or lower, and they are saving lives.
To eliminate alcohol-impaired driving, it will take more than just lowering the BAC limit. That’s why the NTSB recommended interventions including swifter enforcement, more effective sanctions, addressing the challenges of repeat offenders, and expanded use of technology, such as mandatory ignition interlocks for all offenders and expeditious development of in-vehicle alcohol-detection systems.
We’ve already heard from the naysayers who say “we cannot” or “we need not” take action. With nearly 10,000 people killed every year, there are 10,000 reasons why we must.
Deborah A.P. Hersman is chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board.
