CONGRESSIONAL UPDATE
105th COngress (1998)
"SAFE AND SOBER STREETS ACT OF 1997"
ANTI-IMPAIRED DRIVING LEGISLATION (3/2/98)
WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4 MORNING DEADLINE
The Senate is scheduled to vote on legislation 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 (see March 26, 1997 Action Alert).
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
ACT NOW!
E-mail your Senators at: The U. S. Senate, or call your Senators at the
Capitol Hill Switchboard at 202/224-3121 and ask for his or her office to:
- Urge them to VOTE YES on the "Safe and Sober Streets
Act of 1997."
- Tell them fourteen state 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.
- If the .08 standard were adopted across the country, we
could save 500 lives every year. That is the equivalent of
three major airline disasters.
The following Senators are undecided. If you live in their states, please ask as many people as possible to call or e-mail:
Pete Domenici -- New Mexico
Phil Gramm -- Texas
Al D'Amato -- New York
Arlen Specter -- Pennsylvania
Herb Kohl -- Wisconsin
Carl Levin -- Michigan
See the NCADD FYI: Impaired Driving for additional statistics and information on impaired driving.