If the insurance lobby was involved in any way, shape or form, wow. Make no mistake, I'm just providing information for a discussion, and I'm not promoting anything here.
Their lobby initially tried to get the BAC level to .04, then they tried .05. They settled on an agreed .08. I believe that this started some ten years ago, and a phase in period through 2007 was initiated. The enticement? Lose federal highway funds if you don't adopt the BAC level.
There's been no real statistical evidence showing that the law itself has done anything. In states where enforcement and getting the word out is strong, the results have been positive. Not because of the adopted BAC level itself, but the fear of arrest. Many, many years of evidence clearly show that most fatal accidents involving alcohol on the highways involve BAC levels far exceeding the .08 level. Once you take the offenders with levels above 2.0 out of the equation, the numbers drop pretty dramatically. At 1.5 and above, a vast majority drop off the charts.
It's hard to determine a ten year history that shows .08 did anything. Many states didn't adopt that level until 2006/2007, which is the timeframe they had to comply with the federal mandate, and then they could recover their lost 2% funding for each year it was held back. The real kicker is in the statistics themselves. Most data was complied with several major assumptions. Most states concluded for years that if a single car accident occurred between 7 PM and 5AM on a Friday or Saturday, it was alcohol-related. Other such statistics can be misleading as well.
For instance, assume two cars are heading into an intersection with traffic lights. Car A is going 36 mph in a 35 mph zone, and has the green light. Further assume that car B, is traveling 32 mph and has a red light. Car B runs the red light, T Boning car A. In many jurisdictions, this is a speed-related accident.
Let's say you've worked 65 hours this week and you're tired. you had a couple of beers with dinner and are heading home. You have no idea that your BAC level is .085. You are going 43 mph in a 40 mph zone on a straight, 2-lane road. A deer jumps out in front of you, you swerve to avoid the deer, you lose control of the car, hit a tree, and die as a result. This accident is recorded as alcohol-related, speed-related (probably). People reading about your demise in the paper are outraged about stupid drunks on the road, and are glad nobody else was killed by your actions.
One of the key issues in any widespread legislation is followup, and complete data. In looking at much of today's data, no reasonable conclusion can be made.
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