Legal Blood Alcohol Level In US: Utah Close To Lowering DUI Limit To 0.05 Percent

alcohol legal — Members of the public examine whisky samples inside the Diageo Claive Vidiz Collection in Edinburgh, Scotland, Sept. 3, 2015. Getty Images

Utah’s legislature voted Wednesday on a bill to lower drivers’ permissible level of blood alcohol in the state from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent, putting the state on its way to have the strictest DUI limit in the country.

The state’s senators voted 17-12 in favor of HB155, after the House voted 48-26 to pass the bill last month. The measure will be put in front of Utah’s Republican Gov. Gary Herbert, whose spokeswoman said the governor is “supportive” of the step, the Salt Lake Tribune reported.

“This is not a drinking bill,” said Senate sponsor Sen. Stuart Adams, a Republican, explaining that the idea behind the measure is to discourage individuals from getting behind a wheel after drinking. “It's a driving bill. It's a public safety bill.”

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The signing of this bill into law will mean that a 150-pound man could get a DUI after drinking two beers, while a 120-pound woman may face the same charges after one drink, the Associated Press quoted the American Beverage Institute, a trade group opposing the bill, as saying.

“Utah legislators missed an opportunity today to target the hard-core drunk drivers who cause the vast majority of drunk driving fatalities and instead decided to criminalize perfectly responsible behavior,” American Beverage Institute Managing Director Sarah Longwell said in a statement.

Lawmakers, however, are more optimistic about the bill that would restrict the permissible blood alcohol level to 0.05 percent, a figure recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board for all states.

“Utah leads,” Adams said, referring to the fact that Utah was the first state to adopt a blood alcohol limit of 0.08 percent. “Utah led then, and I think we ought to lead now.”

If signed, the bill will take effect Dec. 30, 2018, with the date specifically chosen to ensure lower levels of drunken driving incidents around New Year's Eve celebrations.