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CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
105th Congress (1997)

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"SAFE AND SOBER STREETS ACT OF 1997"
ANTI-IMPAIRED DRIVING LEGISLATION (3/26/97)

Legislation has been introduced in the House of Representatives and Senate to withhold federal highway funds from states that do not implement a .08 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level.

BACKGROUND:
Drunk driving fatalities have begun to rise in the United States for the first time in a decade. Senator Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) and Representative Nita Lowey (D-NY) have introduced legislation that attempts to turn back the tide.

The "Safe and Sober Streets Act" would allow the Secretary of Transportation to withhold 5 percent of a state's federal highway funding if the state has not enacted a law that considers an individual who has a BAC of .08 percent or greater while operating a motor vehicle in the state to be driving under the influence or driving while intoxicated. This is how the law that led to all 50 states establish a 21 year-old drinking age was passed.

For more information on this legislation,contact the Public Policy Office via e-mail at publicpolicy@ncadd.org.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:
Write or call your senators and representative and:

1) Urge them to support the "Safe and Sober Streets Act of 1997."

2) Tell them fourteen states and many other countries have successfully adopted a .08 BAC level, the level of intoxication at which critical driving skills are impaired for most drivers.

3) if the .08 standard was adopted across the country, we could save 500 lives every year. That is the equivalent of three major airline disasters.

HOW TO CONTACT MEMBERS OF CONGRESS:
E-Mail:

The U. S. House of Representatives

The U. S. Senate

Write:

The Honorable --
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20510

The Honorable --
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20515

Call:

Call your senators and representatives by dialing 202/224-3121 and asking the Capitol Hill switchboard operator for his or her office.

If you have any questions, contact the Public Policy Office via e-mail at publicpolicy@ncadd.org.