States likely to toughen drunk driving laws
Published: Mar/Apr 2001
Lawmakers in Missouri and Indiana are likely to make their drunk driving laws more strict or risk losing millions of dollars in federal transportation funding.
As part of the Federal Transportation Appropriations Bill, Congress recently passed a new law that requires each state to pass .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) as the legal limit or lose a portion of their federal highway funding. While Illinois and Kansas already use .08 BAC as their legal limit, offenders in Missouri and Indiana must have BAC levels at or exceeding .10 to be considered legally drunk.
Highway safety advocates nationwide say research shows that virtually everyone is dangerously impaired at a .08 BAC.
States have until Oct. 1, 2003, to pass a .08 BAC “per se” law that would meet the provisions of an existing federal incentive grant or face the withholding of 2 percent of their federal highway construction funds. For Missouri, that would mean an estimated $8.1 million and $9.5 million for Indiana.
