State Rep. Jeremy Faison says he will sponsor legislation next year to reduce the legal standard for a presumption of drunk driving in Tennessee from the national standard of 0.08% to 0.05%, as recommended by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The NTSB recommended this week that U.S. states lower the threshold for DUI to 0.05% – which is the standard already in place for more than 100 other countries worldwide – in order to reduce the incidence of drunk driving accidents, injuries and fatalities throughout the United States. If you have been injured in a TN drunk driving accident, or if you lost a loved one in a fatal DUI crash, contact our qualified attorneys at Michael D. Ponce & Associates today. You may have grounds to file a personal injury or wrongful death suit against the allegedly negligent driver, in order to seek fair and timely reimbursement for your losses.
According to Rep. Faison, Tennessee was one of the last states to lower its legal limit for blood alcohol content (BAC) from 0.10% to 0.08%, and being the first to further lower its standard to 0.05% would put Tennessee a step ahead in the fight against drunk driving. “I think it’s an important thing to do,” said Faison. “What we’ve been doing is not working and we have tens of thousands of Americans dying because of drunk driving.” While there has been “an awful lot of emphasis lately on guns with high-capacity magazines,” Faison notes that DUI accidents are responsible for a higher rate of devastating injury and tragic loss of life, and the drunk driving issue therefore deserves far more attention than it’s getting now.
In a recent report, the Governor’s Highway Safety Administration noted that Tennessee fatalities caused by alcohol-impaired drivers dropped by 31.8% from 2007 to 2011, coinciding with a 25.4% increase in DUI arrests made by the Tennessee Highway Patrol during the same time period. Earlier this year, the Tennessee legislature voted to require first-time DUI offenders in the state to obtain an ignition interlock device, which requires the driver to take a breathalyzer test before the car will start, in an effort to reduce the incidence of drunk driving accidents, injuries and deaths across the state. If you or a loved one has suffered DUI accident injuries in Nashville, or elsewhere in Tennessee, consult our reputable lawyers at Micheal D. Ponce & Associates to discuss your legal options. Our legal team has years of experience protecting the rights of DUI accident victims throughout Tennessee, and will work diligently to help you pursue the compensation you deserve.
Source: http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2013/may/15/rep-faison-says-hell-push-for-lowering-dui-level/