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08 Per Se
.08 Per Se refers to laws that make it illegal to operate a motor vehicle at or above .08 blood
alcohol concentration (BAC). .08 is the illegal level in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
Overview
Blood alcohol concentration is a measure of how much alcohol is in someone's blood. It is the
most accurate and measurable gauge of alcohol impairment.

Source: CDC

A standard drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 72-proof
distilled spirits, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol about .54 ounces.
.08 BAC is not social drinking or a sip above the illegal levelit is illegal to drive with .08
BAC. When drivers reach .08 BAC, their critical driving skills, like judging distance and speed,
steering, visual tracking, concentration, braking, and staying in driving lanes are severely
impaired. (Moskowitz, 2000) At a .08 BAC level, a person is 11 times more likely to be
involved in a fatal crash than someone who has had nothing to drink. (Zador, 2000) (Keall et al,
2004)
Passing .08 BAC laws saves lives. In 2001, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reviewed the
available literature and concluded that .08 BAC laws reduce alcohol-related traffic fatalities by
an average of seven percent. (CDC Community Guide, 2001) Additionally, a study of the
effectiveness of the .08 percent BAC law implemented in Illinois found that enactment of the law
was associated with a 13.7 percent decline in the number of drinking drivers involved in fatal
crashes. (Voas, Tippetts, & Taylor, 2001) It also found that crashes were decreased at all BAC
levels, including crashes among drivers at a .15 BAC or above. There are numerous additional
studies, all of which confirm that .08 BAC per se laws save lives.

Additionally, there is little to no cost states that have implemented .08 BAC per se laws have
found no substantial negative impact on law enforcement, the judicial system, or the prison
system. (Voas, Tippetts, & Taylor, 2001) (NHTSA, 1991) Also, studies have found that .08 BAC
laws would cost $2.70 to $3 per licensed driver, but save $38-40 per licensed driver, a significant
savings. These savings occur because of the decrease in the number of fatal and injurious crashes
and a reduction in associated costs (police and emergency response, health care, lost wages and
productivity, etc.). (NHTSA, 2001) (Miller, 2001)
Since August 2005, all states have had .08 per se laws in place helping to reduce drunk driving
deaths. These laws, in addition to the efforts of law enforcement, prosecutors and an increasing
use of ignition interlocks for convicted drunk drivers, have helped contribute to a 23 percent
decline in drunk driving deaths since 2004.

2004 to 2013 USA Drunk Driving Fatalities

13,58213,491 12,998
13,099
11,711

10,839

10,136 9,865 10,336 10,076

20
04
20
05
20
06
20
07
20
08
20
09
20
10
20
11
20
12
20
13

15,000
12,500
10,000
7,500
5,000
2,500
0

Source: NHTSA

Year

Push for ignition interlocks for all convicted drunk drivers parallels efforts
for passing .08 per se laws.
MADD believes ignition interlocks should be required for all convicted drunk drivers with an
illegal BAC of .08 or greater. When MADD led efforts to save lives by passing .08 laws,
MADD faced opposition from some who thought the reform efforts should focus on the hardcore offender. History repeats itself and today some may say interlocks should only should be
for hard-core offenders or repeat offenders or those with a BAC of .15. A September 7, 2006
report from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety details why focusing on this "hard-core"
set of DWI offenders is bad policy, stating: "The hard-core group isn't the whole DWI problem
or even the biggest part, so it doesn't make sense to focus too narrowly on this group."
Revised July 2014