National Transportation Safety Board Recommends BAC Content Lowered for Driving

Federal investigators now suggest that driving under the influence of just one alcoholic beverage may be too many for some to get behind the wheel.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board, it's recommended that the state lower the cut-off for impaired driving from a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 to 0.05 in order to prevent some of the 10,000 lives lost per year due to car accidents where alcohol is involved. For instance, when it comes to a 120-pound woman, this could mean that driving is illegal after one drink, according to the Associated Press. And for a 160-pound man, two drinks would be too many.

The agency also recommended more sobriety checkpoints, and greater use of DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) courts.

Lowering the maximally allowed blood alcohol content to 0.08 cut drunk-driving deaths nearly in half, from 18,000 in 1982.

What do you think about this? 

Looking at statistics, the number of people involved in car accidents involving alcohol consumption often end ugly.

For instance, almost half of all drivers who were killed in crashes and tested positive for drugs also had alcohol in their system. In 2010 alone, 1.41 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics.

The speed of alcohol absorption affects the rate at which a person becomes drunk, and as the average person can only metabolize one drink per hour, only time can sober a person up. 

Should the rules be changed?