Shot In The Dark: Thank Goodness For The .08 Limit

December 30, 2005

Thank Goodness For The .08 Limit

The overarching wisdom of Minnesota finally adopting the .08 blood alcolhol limit as the standard for driving while intoxicated was proven in spades yesterday on I-94 in Minneapolis.

A driver, who tested .082, merely a hair over the new legal limit (!) - was caught after driving the wrong way down I94, hitting a woman's car, and causing all sorts of havoc:

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State Patrol Capt. Tom Fraser had a pretty solid checklist of what went right and wrong when a driver wreaked five minutes of havoc Thursday morning for motorists on two metro interstates.

The driver going the wrong way down Interstate Hwy. 94 in Minneapolis while very drunk and hitting a woman’s car was bad. But fortunately she wasn’t seriously injured. A good Samaritan followed the driver and played a role in helping the State Patrol arrest him in a timely manner. That was definitely a positive.

The driver and his passenger also had a pound of marijuana in the vehicle.

But I digress: this story shows the absolute need for the .08 limit:

A portable breath test showed the driver’s alcohol level at 0.24 percent, three times the limit for driving, Bammert said. A blood test also was given, Fraser said.

That's ri...er...huh?

.24?

Yeah. .24. But this weekend will be Minnesota's first New Years holiday as the last state to adopt the .08 standard, a level that will not make the roads one iota safer (most drunk driving accident are caused by people who test way over .1%), but will certainly serve to refill county coffers, creating a brand new class of criminals that, conveniently, will be paying counties a lot of money for the crime of being caught with a fairly benign amount of alcohol in their systems.

Let me put it this way: someone please show me any verifiable statistics (Mothers Against Drunk Driving stats don't count) that indicate people driving between a .08 and a .1 cause accidents in anywhere near the proportion of their numbers on the road.

Point: I drink very little. I drive drunk even less (as in, not for probably 18 years now) (Counterpoint: It irritates me to have to constantly qualify these things; "I oppose property forfeiture laws - but I'm not a drug dealer, just so's we're clear on that".

Posted by Mitch at December 30, 2005 06:11 AM | TrackBack

Comments

The only thing the .08 law does is make a bunch of bitching mothers (M.A.D.D.) feel good at night. It does NOTHING to curb drunk driving. NOTHING.

Ultimately, the ONLY thing that will REALLY curb drunk driving is closing all the bars in the state. But...don't worry M.A.D.D. busy-body-bitches...the anti-tobacco zealots are already working on that for you.

Posted by: Dave at December 30, 2005 09:49 AM

The .08/DWI system is an industry. It's not as much about increasing public safety (though that is certainly one goal) as it is about revenue collection. Minnesota actually held out longer than a lot of places did, and has resisted bringing the completely unconstitutional road block checkpoints back, but this is still an unnecessary step in the direction of more intrusiveness by the State. Be careful out there, and vote the nannies out.

Posted by: PaulC at December 30, 2005 10:55 AM

Proud charter member of DAMM, Drunks Against MADD Mothers,

Don't worry, I took the bus last night *laughing*

Flash

Posted by: Flash at December 30, 2005 11:54 AM

When will MADD want to take the alcohol limit down to .07%? What about .06%? When will any trace of alcohol in the blood be too much?

More importantly, when will the states cave to the federal government for further limits because they don't want to let a couple of billion in federal money (otherwise known as *our damn money*) slip through their fingers???

Posted by: badda-blogger at December 30, 2005 12:18 PM

You should also look at how the insurance industry and legal profession make out when a state has amended its law to .08.
By the way, a few years ago a MADD chapter president was on a radio call-in show around this time of year to review the evils of drunk driving. A caller asked if MADD had a time when they thought their work would be done and would disband. The chapter president said that until there was zero drunk driving, they weren't going away. That pretty much means never.

Posted by: Tom at December 30, 2005 02:03 PM

When will MADD want to take the alcohol limit down to .07%? What about .06%? When will any trace of alcohol in the blood be too much?
Posted by badda-blogger at December 30, 2005 12:18 PM

Eventually. The first Temperance movement took time.

Posted by: Kermit at January 2, 2006 08:01 AM

badda: "When will MADD want to take the alcohol limit down to .07%?"

As soon as their money starts drying up. The only way to justify their existance is to do "something" so it'll be the next crusade. The problem with many of these organizations is that there's little to stop them continuing, especially now that they've got government financing.

Posted by: nerdbert at January 2, 2006 11:13 AM

Last summer I tested at .087 and then proceeded through all the tests only to relize I didn't as much as get a speeding ticket, or any sort of warning for a driving offense. As far as I can tell my offese was that I was hitting the point where Twin City radio stations cut out and given the wide open road was taking my time trying to find something worth listining to.

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