CLAIM ABOUT ALCOHOL LIMIT CHALLENGED

WASHINGTON - Reducing by one drink the alcohol it takes to
become legally drunk doesn't conclusively reduce the number or
severity of alcohol-related crashes, a new government study concludes.

The finding challenges statements by President Clinton last year in
advocating 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content as a nationwide standard
for legal drunkenness rather than the 0.1 percent limit in effect in
two-thirds of the states.

The General Accounting Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said
in a report Wednesday that such claims cannot be supported. Research
to date has used flawed methodology or ignored other factors that
could contribute to a lower fatality count, the congressional auditors
said.

"A .08 BAC (blood-alcohol content) law can be an important component
of a state's overall highway safety program, but a .08 BAC law alone
is not a `silver bullet,'" the GAO wrote. "Highway safety research
shows that the best countermeasure against drunken driving is a
combination of laws, sustained public education and vigorous
enforcement."

Data from the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board indicate that the
lower standard for many people translates into having one less drink
before reaching legal drunkenness. It defined a drink as 1.25 ounces
of 80-proof liquor, 12 ounces of beer or 5 ounces of table wine.

Dr. Marcelline Burns of the independent Southern California Research
Institute says several factors beyond the number of drinks determine
blood-alcohol content: a person's size, sex, body, the time over which
drinks were consumed and how much food was taken with them.

"There is no easy answer," Burns warned. If people are worried about
hitting the blood alcohol limits, "they need to eat and to pace their
drinks."

In a rebuttal to the report, the Transportation Department said a
series of studies "provided positive, if not conclusive, results and
formed a reasonable basis for supporting .08 BAC laws."

The department also said it has consistently supported a broad
approach to combating drunken driving, including public education and
stricter law enforcement in addition to a lower blood-alcohol limit.