Over 10,000 people are killed in the U.S. each year due to alcohol-related crashes, and any reasonable measure that can lower this number is well worth implementing. A new study on Utah’s stricter alcohol limit laws for drivers suggests that alcohol-related crashes have dropped noticeably since the state implemented lower blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers. The study was run by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and its findings may encourage other states to implement lower BAC limits, too.
Utah’s Strict Alcohol Laws Are Working
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In December 2018, Utah became the first state to adopt a lower BAC limit of 0.05%, down from 0.08%. It remains the only state to do so, but perhaps that shouldn’t be the case, since this lower limit was linked to a reduction in alcohol-related crashes by almost 9%. That applies to the four years after the lower 0.05% limit was put into place.
“Crash risk increases with the amount of alcohol in your system, but it spikes noticeably at 0.05%,” IIHS President David Harkey said. “A lower limit is grounded in science and also sends a message that buzzed driving is drunk driving, as the slogan goes.”
Utah’s limit contrasts sharply with early BAC limits introduced in the 1980s, which were as high as 0.15%. It stayed at 0.10% for many years in several states, before a 0.08% limit was made universal in 2005. At that time, this lower limit was required by the Department of Transportation.
How The Study Was Conducted
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IIHS researchers wanted to more closely evaluate the link between the lower 0.05% BAC limit and fewer alcohol-related crashes, as earlier studies were unclear. The new IIHS study included not only police reports of alcohol involvement in crashes, but also instances where alcohol-positive tests were added to crash reports at a later stage. Where drivers refused a BAC test, these crashes were also taken into consideration. This data was analyzed by IIHS Senior Research Scientist Angela Eichelberger and independent researcher Scott Tippets.
Utah crashes involving alcohol were compared before and after the stricter law was introduced in 2028, and these results were also compared with crash rates in Arizona, Idaho, and Colorado. Compared with these three other states, Utah’s share of alcohol-involved crashes declined by between 12 and 21%.
“These encouraging results from Utah should make other states take note,” Harkey said. “More than 10,000 people lose their lives in alcohol-related crashes every year in the U.S. We need to use every tool we have, including stricter BAC limits, to reduce that toll.”
There were a few factors complicating the results, such as the fact that Utah has typically had one of the lower rates of alcohol-involved crashes in the country.
Tackling Drunk Driving From Multiple Angles
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Driving under the influence of alcohol continues to be a major problem in certain states, with a 2024 study from the Simmrin Law Group listing South Carolina, Texas, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Montana as being the worst states for drunk driving deaths. In that same study, Utah had the lowest percentage of alcohol-related fatalities, so the very state where the issue is least prevalent has the strictest BAC laws.
Authorities continue tackling the problem from various angles, with one of the most contentious developments being a new bill that aims to mandate drunk driver detection technology in new cars. Ultimately, such technology would make a vehicle undrivable if a drunk driver is detected. It sounds like a straightforward solution, but it’s riddled with hurdles. For starters, there are privacy concerns about how much data one’s car should be able to collect about its driver. More pressingly, the detection tech that the government wants to implement doesn’t exist, as confirmed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Utah’s progress in reducing alcohol-related crashes is encouraging, but more research is needed to determine whether dropping the BAC limit will see the same results in states where drunk driving is a bigger concern. Right now, this is a more logical step to address a widespread road safety issue than getting new cars to assess the sobriety level of drivers.
About the author
Karl Furlong
Senior Editor, Autoblog