Articles
|
New Legal BAC Limit in Indiana That as of July 1, 2001, Indiana joined more than twenty other states in which the legal blood alcohol limit is eight-hundredths of a gram of alcohol (0.08) per deciliter of blood? Prior to July 1, 2001, the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) in Indiana was 0.10 percent. The lower concentration level of alcohol applies to persons operating motorboats as well as cars and other vehicles. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that a one hundred seventy pound man has a blood alcohol content of 0.08 after drinking five beers in two hours, and a one hundred twenty pound woman reaches a BAC of 0.08 after drinking three beers in two hours. On average, one person is injured every minute in the United States in an alcohol-related accident. Experts estimate that the 0.08 BAC limit will save sixteen to twenty-six lives per year in Indiana. "Intoxication" still refers to an individual under the influence of a controlled substance or a combination of drugs and alcohol, as well as alcohol. Thus, even if an individual has not consumed enough alcohol to render a blood alcohol concentration level of 0.08, they have violated Indiana law if they operate a vehicle when they have lost normal control of their faculties from the use of a controlled substance or through a combination of drugs and alcohol. Indiana law now also states that as a condition of operating a vehicle, an individual impliedly consents to submit to a portable breath test or a chemical test following an accident that causes death or serious injury. The 0.08 BAC limit remains well above that of some foreign jurisdictions. The Swedish Parliament voted in 1990 to lower their legal BAC limit to 0.02 percent. |
