LANSING (WJRT) -
(02/13/13) - Mothers Against Drunk Driving testified in Lansing Wednesday morning, urging lawmakers to renew a .08 blood alcohol concentration law.
"I can tell you the number of people that we talk to who are dealing right now with an empty place at the dinner table because of someone else's decision to drink and drive," said Sherry McGee, the executive director M.A.D.D.
McGee hopes lawmakers will continue to keep the state's blood alcohol content limit to .08.
"We certainly don't want to see it get any higher and we don't want to see more injuries and certainly no more fatalities," she said.
"This bill will ultimately eliminate the sunset, meaning that if we don't pass a law that it will revert back go .10 for offenses in alcohol-related incidents. Currently it's at .08 and when they passed that law, they added a sunset meaning it would drop off," said State Rep. Stacy Erwin Oakes.
She's supporting the house bill. If the legislation doesn't take action, the state could lose millions of dollars.
"It's twofold because funding from the federal highway administration is also attached to these dollars. If we do not pass the legislation, we could lose about $50 million in transportation funding, which the state so desperately needs," she said.
Studies show that when all 50 states enacted a .08 law in 2005, there has been a 27 percent decline in drunken driving deaths in the U.S.
"The bottom line is the average is five drinks for a man, four drinks for a woman, that's about what it takes to get to .08, your driving skills are impaired and our lives, all of our lives are at risk when you're on the road," McGee said.
Lawmakers plan to vote on the bill next week.
