Police look for impairment, no matter the legal BAC limit
An Oregon lawmaker has proposed the state reduce its blood alcohol content limit for drivers from .08 to .05, as Utah recently did.
The bill is only in its initial stages and still needs approval from the House and Senate to become law.
However, if it is passed, Central Oregon police say it wouldn’t change the way law enforcement does its job.
Bend police Lt. Jason Maniscalco said Thursday no matter the limit, officers are just trying to keep the roads safe.
“We’re focusing on their ability to drive from Point A to Point B safely, so when we pull someone over or stop somebody or they’re involved in a crash, we’re focusing on that, their impairment at the time,” Maniscalco said.
Greg Owens is an instructor at High Desert Driver Education. He said it’s never good to drink and drive and one should never try to simply stay under the limit, because the effects can be different for everyone.
“It’s not about the amount you have in your system, it’s about impairment,” he said. “And you can be impaired with a BAC a lot lower than .08, or even point .05, and that’s what it’s about — impairment.”
In 2017, data show that 11 people were killed in Oregon in crashes involving drivers who had a blood alcohol level between the current legal limit and a proposed lower limit.
Sgt. William Bailey at the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office said dangerous driving can happen below the legal limit — whatever that is.
“I’ve arrested a person who has blown a .07 for a DUII, but the rest is already done; they are already lodged, they are already in jail,” he said. “We’re in the jail getting the blood alcohol, the breath test.
“But my decision was made on their ability to operate a vehicle safely and impairment, not on the (blood alcohol) number at the time of the stop,” Bailey added.
Last year, Deschutes County deputies made 267 DUI arrests, Bend police made nearly 500 and Redmond police made 149.
Bailey also said that since arrests are being made for the same reason, the number of inmates at the jail would not be expected to increase significantly, should lawmakers lower the legal limit.
