New state DUI law lowers drunk-driving threshold to .08

Sunday, January 25, 2004

By Lillian Thomas, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Next Sunday, a driver with a .08 blood-alcohol level will be subject to the penalties of Pennsylvania's new drunk-driving law.

That means a 120-pound woman who's had two drinks could very well be legally intoxicated, and if pulled over while driving, could face a $300 fine, six months of probation and mandatory drug and alcohol treatment.

Might be enough to discourage some post-Super Bowl-party motoring.

The legislation lowering the state's drunk-driving threshold as required by federal law was passed Sept. 30, beating by just hours -- as ancient General Assembly tradition demands -- the deadline to capture $11.8 million in highway-construction money.

Gov. Ed Rendell signed the new regulations into law the day after they were passed, but the penalties won't kick in until next month.

That's when a three-tier system will go into effect for motorists convicted of DUI. Offenders will be classified by the categories of "general impairment" for a driver with a blood-alcohol level of .08 to .099; "high rate" for a level of .10 to .15; and "highest rate" for .16 and above.

Roughly translated, that's "tight," "drunk" and "plastered." The separate category for drivers with blood-alcohol levels below .10 that formerly would not have qualified as intoxicated were part of a compromise worked out with those opposed to lowering the limit.

Rep. Rich Geist, R-Altoona, chairman of the House Transportation Committee, said that approach is the new law's strength.

"This law is going to cut down deaths and carnage," he said.

When lawmakers began to meet to try to come up with new drunk-driving legislation, he said, "We knew we had a federal mandate looking at us."

He continued, "I hate mandates. I'm a conservative Republican. I absolutely hate mandates. But we knew the DUI law wasn't working. Other states' DUI rates were going down, while Pennsylvania was going up. Our recidivism was high."

Lawmakers also knew that the biggest problem was with repeat offenders who drove while highly intoxicated. "At .08 you are not as much of a danger as .16. At .16 you're death on wheels," Geist said.

The "step scale" allowed the state to focus on the problem offenders while complying with the federal mandate, he said.

The law increases punishments on the basis of the driver's blood-alcohol level. It also carries more severe penalties for repeat offenders, doubling fines in some cases and imposing longer jail sentences. And it requires installation of an ignition interlock (a device that prevents a person from starting a car while impaired) in vehicles of repeat offenders, complying with another federal mandate.

Rebecca Shaver, executive director of Pennsylvania's Mothers Against Drunk Driving chapter, said her organization supports the new provisions.

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