Today's topic is: Drinking and Driving
I had no idea that there were states that actually allowed drinking and driving...
No more drinking and driving in Mont.
I had thought that all states had some kind of law around drinking and driving. Just call me a Naive Canadian, I guess :-)
I found it interesting that the argument in Montana FOR drinking and driving is that they "think we�re a very different place than other places and that we don�t have to run by the rules that other people have to in more congested areas� and yet "Montana has the highest rate of alcohol-related deaths, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration"...
I guess one could argue on the "personal freedom" side that one has the right to endanger or even kill one's self by drinking and driving if one chooses, (without knowing what the suicide laws in Montana are), but you can't assume when you drink and drive that the only one who would be in any danger is you. Even in a "less congested area".
Not that having a law there now is going to make a difference though since the penalty for violation is "a $100 fine, and the offense does not show up on a person�s driving record" assuming, of course, they are caught in the first place.
Anyway - didn't realize there were places that existed in the US where it wasn't against the law to drink and drive. I knew there were LOTS of places where it is very common, but didn't realize it was actually LEGAL too. Interesting. So of course, I had to learn more :-)
I found this survey of Drinking and Driving Laws by country, state, and province, of North America and Europe done by the National Highway Transportation and Safety Association.
I also found the "Setting Limits Saving Lives: Case for .08 BAC Laws" which explained to me that in October 2000 Congress passed a .08 BAC as the national standard for impaired driving as part of the Transportation Appropriations Bill. States that don't adopt .08 BAC laws by 2004 would have 2% of certain highway construction funds withheld, with the penalty increasing to 8% by 2007. States adopting the standard by 2007 would be reimbursed for any lost funds.
Which helped me understand the statement in the Montana article that "Montana had stood to lose $5 million a year in federal highway funds if it failed to pass the law".
I also learned that at the time the report was published almost all states had a BAC limit (exception being Massacusetts) but that the limit in many of those states, Montana and Mississipi included (which were the states referenced in the original article) was .10 at the time.
Anyway... enough research and ramblings. It's almost time for our Friday Night festivities. And I'm the designated driver of the family these days ;-)
(P.S: All of the links I listed in this entry and in previous entries I discovered by using MSN's new Search Engine. Never even had to go past the first page of results for any of them. I tell ya - I'm lovin' it! Oh... wait... wrong tag line ;-)).