The Senate Judiciary Committee has passed a bill that would lower the blood alcohol level considered to be legally impaired.
The national standard to pass a breathalyzer test is to score lower than a 0.08 blood alcohol content. SB2096 would lower the passing score to 0.05.
Sen. Donna Mercado Kim voted against the bill, saying criminalizing a lower blood alcohol content will not keep drunk drivers off the road.
"I agree and I want to keep people off the road, but we want to deter people. And so I'm not sure that somebody like myself who may have one glass of wine that it deters me, because I'm not sure what I'm going to blow [0.05] or [0.079] or [0.08]. I mean, I shouldn't be driving at all," stated Kim.
Sen. Kurt Fevella also voted against the bill. SB2096 will move on to a second hearing.
