BILL NUMBER: S53
SPONSOR: LIU
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to lowering the
blood alcohol concentration required for driving while intoxicated from
.08 of one per centum to .05, and for aggravated driving while intoxi-
cated from .ct.18 of one per centum to .ct.12
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
The purpose of this bill is to reduce alcohol-impaired driving acci-
dents.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
Subdivision 2, paragraph (a) of subdivision 2-a of section 1192 of the
vehicle and traffic law is amended to: Change the definition of "driving
while intoxicated" from .08 blood alcohol content (BAC) to Change the
definition of "aggravated driving while intoxicated" from
Subdivision 6 of section 1192 of the vehicle and traffic law is amended
to change the maximum allowable BAC for drivers of commercial motor
vehicles from .06 to .05.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
Each year in the United States, nearly 10,000 people are killed in cras-
hes involving alcohol- impaired drivers and more than 173,000 are
injured. Since the mid-1990s, even as total highway fatalities have
fallen, the proportion of deaths from accidents involving alcohol-im-
paired drivers has remained constant at around 30 percent of all highway
fatalities; nearly 440,000 people have died in alcohol related crashes.
The National Transportation Safety Board has recently issued a recommen-
dation to states to lower the blood alcohol content that constitutes
drunk driving. Since 2004 all 50 states have set a BAC level of .08,
reflecting the percentage of alcohol, by volume, in the blood.
The United States trails the rest of the world in lowering the drunken
driving standard. The United States has a more lenient RAC for drunk
driving than 100 other countries; nearly all the European, Asian, and
South American countries have adopted a standard lower than provinces
reported a 5-18 percent drop in highway fatalities. This bill would
lower the allowable BAC by roughly 33% from the current level. New York
State would be the second in the nation to adopt the lower standard and
would set an example for the rest of the country that it has the will to
make practical policy changes to reduce alcohol-related crashes.
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
01/03/24 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
01/06/23 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
01/05/22 REFERRED TO TRANSPORTATION
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None to the State
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
30 days after becoming law