BAC.08

[ddf68]

It seems I'm a few days late to this discussion. However, I've got two cents to add.

First, foodie opines that the time will come when someone starts selling .06 BAC as the appropriate limit. That time is here, at least in Colorado. Under Colorado law a BAC of .10 or higher is presumptive evidence that you are DUI (Driving under the influence). A BAC of .05 - .099 is presumptive evidence that you are DWAI (Driving while ability impaired.) The difference between the penalties between the two offenses is marginal--8 points against your license for DWAI as opposed to 12 for DUI, a few days and a few months difference in the minimum and maximum jail sentences, respectively, better chance of a shorter alcohol treatment class for DWAI, etc. But the bottom line is that Colorado already has, in essence, a .05 BAC limit.

Second, what business does the federal government have telling Colorado that this two tiered system is insufficiently strict and that highway funds will be withheld if Colorado doesn't lower the DUI limit to .08? It seems to me that the current Colorado system is more restrictive than one in which there is only one offense which begins at .08. If the people of Colorado think that the .10 DUI/.05 DWAI system is better and more effective than a single .08 DUI system, shouldn't they have the ability to make that decision themselves?
Now I don't particularly like the .05 limit, but in a larger sense I think its bad public policy to have the federal government imposing uniform standards on the states.

ddf