Recent Drunk Driving Arrests
Earlier this month, after a day of drinking, New York City Police Officer Joseph Gray ran down a pregnant woman, her four-year-old son and sister with his van. All of the victims were killed in the crash. This week, Gray resigned from the police force and New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani made the decision that any police officer convicted of drunk driving will be dismissed.

Keeping the drinking and driving headlines alive in the news, 22-year-old American Pie 2 star Natasha Lyonne was arrested this week when she drove her rental car off a road and into a sign. According the arrest report, when the police officer told Lyonne that he smelled alcohol on her breath she said, “I’m a movie star. Can I talk to my entertainment lawyer?”

What needs to be done to lower the occurrence of impaired driving in America?
Last October, Bill Clinton signed into law a tougher national drunk driving standard, which lowered the legal limit for driving while impaired from .10% BAC (Blood Alcohol Content) to .08% BAC.

As of September 30 over half the nation (including 28 states, Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico), will be enforcing the stricter .08% limit. Still, the question arises, is .08% low enough? Many countries have a legal limit of .05% BAC, and Sweden’s legal limit is a mere .02%! When Belguim lowered its limit to .05% in 1994, a 14 percent reduction in fatalities was reported the next year.

Do you think stricter BAC limits would help curb drunk driving in America? Would you support a legal BAC limit as low as Sweden’s .02%? How concerned are you about drunk driving in your area?

Drive safe this holiday weekend!
-- iWon Editorial Staff