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America's Car Companies Favor 0.08 Blood Alcohol Standard

3 March 1998

America's Car Companies Favor 0.08 Blood Alcohol Standard

    WASHINGTON, March 3 -- America's Car Companies are urging the
U.S. Senate to support legislation that would seek a uniform limit for Blood
Alcohol Concentration (BAC) at 0.08 for the nation's drivers.
    In a March 2 letter, Andrew H. Card, Jr., President & CEO of the American
Automobile Manufacturers Association (AAMA), encouraged lawmakers to support
legislation "that would provide states with an incentive to adopt and enforce
an anti-drunk driving standard of 0.08 Blood Alcohol Concentration."
    The proposal, contained in S. 412 -- the Safe and Sober Streets Act -- is
co-sponsored by Senators Lautenberg, DeWine and 21 other Senators.  It is
expected to be offered as an amendment to S. 1173, the Intermodal Surface
Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA) reauthorization bill.
    Card's letter referred to a recent report by the U.S. Department of
Transportation which noted that alcohol-related crashes account for 40 percent
of all traffic fatalities.  "Although progress has been made, the number of
alcohol-related deaths is still over 17,000 each year.  Some 1.4 million
drivers were arrested in 1995 alone for driving under the influence of
alcohol.  Moreover, safety belt use, now required by 49 states, is markedly
lower among drivers and occupants involved in alcohol-related crashes."
    "Clearly, more needs to be done," he wrote.  "Currently, in most states
the standard for 'legal' intoxication is 0.10 BAC, while states that have
enacted 0.08 BAC legislation have witnessed significant reductions in alcohol-
related traffic fatalities, according to statistics compiled by Mothers
Against Drunk Driving.  AAMA and its member companies, Chrysler, Ford and
General Motors, strongly urge your support of this legislation," Card's letter
concluded.
    AAMA is the trade association whose members are Chrysler Corporation
, Ford Motor Company and General Motors Corporation
.  Visit the AAMA's site on the World Wide Web at
http://www.aama.com.

SOURCE  American Automobile Manufacturers Association