Clarkston Police Chief Ernest Combs welcomes new state standards for defining drunken driving, scheduled to take effect Oct. 1.
“This is something that has been needed for a long time,” Combs said. “My officers are very vigorous in looking for intoxicated drivers.”
To protect the state’s eligibility for federal road dollars, the Michigan Legislature last month lowered the allowable blood alcohol level from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent. Beginning Oct. 1, anyone who registers the new standard on a preliminary breath test is subject to arrest for operating under the influence of alcohol.
According to state Rep. John Stakoe (R-Highland Township), the new law is good legislation.
“There’s no question that people’s driving abilities are significantly impaired at 0.08,” Stakoe said.
According to information from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, a driver can experience “divided attention” at a level as little as 0.02 percent BAC. “Emergency responses” can be compromised at 0.04 percent, and “concentrated attention” and “speed control” are impaired at 0.08 percent.
The degree of intoxication varies according to one’s body weight. NHTSA says a male who weighs 170 pounds will reach the 0.07 percent BAC level after four drinks within one hour (one drink being considered 0.54 ounces of alcohol). A female weighing 137 pounds will reach the 0.08 percent BAC level after three drinks in one hour.
The current law allows police to prosecute for “impaired” driving if a driver registers “above” 0.07 percent BAC, but Combs said that has presented a problem in the past.
The field Breathalyzer registers three decimal points, but the printer at the police station only prints to two decimal points. By the letter of the law, the “impaired” charge has been difficult to prosecute, Combs said.
Stakoe said the new standard will help, but there will still be the “driving while visibly impaired” charge available to police officers if they wish to use discretion in first-offense cases.
Combs estimated an average of about three OUIL arrests every couple months inside the city limits.
“That’s a lot for a small town like this,” he said. “That’s more than I’m comfortable with here.”
Stakoe, a former police officer, said the deterrent effect of the new law is not proven. The work of law enforcement is the key.
“People aren’t thinking about the penalties when they get behind the wheel [while drunk],” he said. “I think enforcement is what makes the impact.”
As public scrutiny of drunken driving increases, Stakoe said there may be future increases in the penalties. In an early version of the current bill, for example, there was a proposal for an “enhanced” OUIL charge for those with a BAC of 0.15 percent.
That provision was dropped, but Stakoe said the statistics show the vast majority of OUIL offenders register at least that high.
Combs has seen instances of very high BAC, and said officers are required to take those with a level of 0.35 percent or higher to the hospital, since that is considered “alcohol poisoning.”
Stakoe sees one negative in the new law — not in the content, but in the process.
“As a legislator, I’m not happy when the federal government uses it’s leverage to force things on the state,” he said. “I hate to do it at the point of a gun. It’s another example of how [the federal government] is getting out of control.”