ALBANY, N.Y. — Two downstate lawmakers are calling on their colleagues in Albany to reduce the legal Blood Alcohol Content limit for driving while intoxicated from .08 to .05.
For Aggravated DWI, the threshold would be reduced from .18 to .12.
Assemblyman Felix Ortiz and Senator John Liu says lowing the legal limit will save lives.
"The experience gained in the nations that reduced their threshold from .08 to .05 resulted in 10% reduction in fatalities related to DWI," said Liu.
The National Transportation Safety Board recently recommended that states lower the legal limit.
Utah reduced it to .05 in 2018.
"It's unlikely to make much a difference in New York," said Scott Wexler, the Executive Director of the Empire State Restaurant & Tavern Association, who opposes the proposal. "You notice that when discussion the statistics, they didn't break down the number of crashes of people between .05 and .08. I believe it's because it's such a small percentage.
The American Beverage Institute called the idea "an attack on the restaurant hospitality industries."