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Anniversary of Nation's Worst Drunk Driving Crash

13 May 1998

Anniversary of Nation's Worst Drunk Driving Crash Is Compelling Argument Against the .08 Drunk Driving Bill, Says ABI

    WASHINGTON, May 13 -- Tomorrow marks the 10-year anniversary
of the nation's worst drunk driving crash. Twenty-seven people, most of them
children, were killed by a convicted drunk driver with a .24% BAC. Still, pro-
.08 activists are using this tragedy to push a law that ignores precisely the
type of chronic, high-BAC driver terrorizing our roads.
    The nation's 15-year campaign against drunk driving has succeeded in
stigmatizing this reckless crime among social drinkers, reducing the issue to
what some have called an alcoholism problem. Even Katherine Prescott, former
president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, thinks "the problem may be down to
a hard core of alcoholics who do not respond to public appeals," according to
The New York Times.
    Unfortunately, Sen. Lautenberg's proposal to mandate a .08% drunk driving
arrest threshold completely ignores such drunk drivers. Instead, the bill
simply redefines "drunk driving" to encourage the arrest of social drinkers.
    According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a 120-lb.
woman who drinks just two six-ounce glasses of wine over a two-hour period
will reach .08% BAC. If stopped at a random roadblock, she's going to jail.
    Meanwhile, the drunk driving menaces who careen down our streets are
completely unaffected by this legislation. The average BAC involved in drunk
driving fatalities is .17%. To get to that level, an average-sized man would
have to drink 10 cans of beer in two hours.
    A look at some of the worst drunk driving fatalities shows that the .08%
proposal would have no effect on the root cause of the drunk driving problem:
    -- Larry Mahoney killed 27 people, most of them children, in the nation's
       worst drunk-driving disaster ten years ago tomorrow. He had at least
       one prior DWI conviction. His BAC level was .24%.
    -- Clarence Busch killed 13-year-old Cari Lightner, daughter of MADD
       founder Candy Lightner. He had four prior DWI arrests and two more
       after killing Lightner. His BAC level was .20%.
    -- Henri Paul killed Princess Diana, Dodi Fayed and himself while driving
       120 mph in a Parisian tunnel. His .186% BAC level was nearly four
       times France's .05% drunk-driving threshold.

    For more information, call John Doyle of the American Beverage Institute
at 202-463-7110.

SOURCE  American Beverage Institute