OPINION:
The most recent estimate from the George Washington University Regulatory Studies Center pegs the total number of pages in the U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at just over 180,000. At both the state and federal level, we’ve gotten into the bad habit of turning to new regulations to solve pressing issues of industry and society instead of working with the tools we already have at our disposal.
Though the intangible consequences of lost time and productivity make excess and duplicative regulation seem like a victimless crime, the truth is far from it. Utah’s new 0.05 blood-alcohol limit for driving, which goes into effect at midnight Dec. 30, embodies this “new regulation as the solution” trope.
Though Utah has one of the lowest rates of drunk-driving fatalities in the nation, more than 50 individuals still lost their lives to an alcohol-impaired driver in the state last year. Lawmakers passed legislation to lower the legal limit from 0.08 to 0.05 BAC with the hope that the reduced threshold would convince consumers to think twice before drinking too much and driving.
However, state and federal data indicates that moderate consumers, and even drivers one sip over the BAC line, aren’t the ones responsible for the vast majority of drunk-driving fatalities. The average BAC of a drunk driver involved in a fatal crash is 0.18. That’s more than twice as high as the current legal limit, and almost four times as high as Utah’s impending .05 standard.
To put it into perspective, the average American male would have to consume eight drinks in an hour to reach 0.15 BAC. The average woman would need to drink more than five. In contrast, a 120-lb. woman can reach 0.05 BAC after consuming little more than one standard drink. Although state law enforcement has devoted additional time and money to provide its officers with supplementary training to identify impaired drivers, the proven fact remains that drivers at 0.05 BAC would pass a field sobriety test. Is this really the population we need to be expending limited public-safety resources on?
What’s more is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that drunk drivers involved in a fatal crash are 4.5 times more likely to have a prior DWI conviction on their record than sober drivers. Annual data from this same agency indicates that roughly 800 fatal crashes are caused by drunk drivers convicted of a DUI in the past five years. Unsurprisingly, prior DWI convictions, license suspensions and license revocations are steady predictors of future involvement in a drunk-driving fatality.
Consequently, it makes sense to target those drivers who make a habit of getting behind the wheel after drinking far more than they can manage. And Utah’s legislators know as much: They’ve had stringent rules in place since at least 2009 that prevent these high BAC and repeat offenders from getting behind the wheel drunk. They just aren’t being enforced.
In Utah, a DUI arrest constitutes immediate grounds for a 120-day driver-license suspension. Yet, a 2017 report from the Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice reveals that for more than a quarter of driver-license suspension and revocation hearings, drunk drivers walk away with their driving privileges reinstated because the arresting officer fails to appear at the hearing.
What’s more, the state allows officers to provide their testimony via phone call — their physical presence isn’t even required. More than 1,000 alleged drunk drivers benefited from an officer’s failure to testify last year. This is a gaping hole in current enforcement practices that can be shored up without any additional investment from the state.
Since July 2009, Utah has also required every person convicted of a DUI to install an ignition interlock, or in-car breathalyzer, in his or her vehicle. It’s one of 30 states with this strict all-offender requirement. Considering the interlock device prevents a vehicle’s engine from starting if alcohol is detected in the driver’s breath, it’s a surefire way to prevent convicted offenders from getting behind the wheel drunk (again).
Estimates from a California pilot study suggest that ignition interlock installation is 74 percent more effective in reducing DUI recidivism than license suspension alone. However, no one is ensuring that convicted drunk drivers actually install an interlock as the law demands. At just 8 percent, Utah has the second-worst ignition-interlock-order-compliance rate in the nation.
Compliance doesn’t improve much beyond state lines, either. The NHTSA estimates that nationally, only 15 percent to 20 percent of offenders actually follow through with ignition-interlock orders.
In Washington, Hawaii and New York, three states where 0.05 BAC legislation was introduced in recent years, all offender-ignition interlock laws have been on the books since at least 2011. However, only one of these states, New York, actually keeps detailed records regarding interlock compliance. Without ensuring that local law enforcement has the funding and the manpower to enforce their existing ignition interlock laws, attempts to lower the legal limit amount to no more than lip service from legislators who want to seem “tough on drunk driving.”
If regulators want to live up to this standard, it’ll require more than the flourish of a pen. With lower legal-limit legislation sure to be reintroduced in 2019, states would do well to audit what laws are already on the books and look into the source of their failure. Enforcing existing regulations won’t prevent people from making poor decisions, but it will ensure that justice is served and future tragedy prevented when they do.
• Richard Berman is the president of Berman and Co., a public relations firm in Washington, D.C.
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