HOUSE FAVORS BILL TO LOWER LEGAL INTOXICATION LIMIT

AUSTIN -- With families of drunken-driving victims looking on, the
Texas House on Monday tentatively approved a bill to lower the legal
intoxication limit for drivers from .10 percent to .08 percent of
blood alcohol content.

If final House approval comes today as expected, the hard-fought
proposal from the Senate would go to Gov. George W. Bush for his
promised signature, making Texas the 17th state to use the tougher
standard advocated by groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Supporters say the change should have a measurable impact on highway
safety.

"This bill is about saving lives and about saving millions of dollars
in property damage," said sponsoring Rep. Scott Hochberg, D-Houston.
"We can do that by lowering the DWI limit by just one drink in five,"
he said.

The Legislature's move to lower alcohol level to .08 percent failed in
the 1997 session due to a last-minute parliamentary maneuver in the
Senate. But this session there was no such obstacle, although some
lawmakers and members of the public were not convinced the change
would drastically reduce drunken driving.

A recent Scripps Howard Texas Poll indicated that most citizens
favored the change, although 60 percent also doubted whether the
crackdown would actually translate to fewer alcohol-related deaths,
injuries and damage.

If signed by Bush, the new limit would take effect Sept. 1 and apply
to offenses committed on or after that date.

Hochberg said the measure, Senate Bill 116 by Sen. Mario Gallegos,
D-Galena Park, would help Texas end its dubious top national ranking
for alcohol-related deaths. Nearly 1,750 people died in Texas in
alcohol-related accidents in 1997, the latest year statistics are available.

One study suggested that lowering the level could cause a double-digit
drop in road fatalities, as it did in California and Maine.

Experts testified in committee that to remain under the .08
blood-alcohol level, a typical 170-pound man could drink no more than
four drinks in one hour on an empty stomach. A 120-pound woman could
drink an estimated three drinks.

The bill was opposed by only one group in the House hearing -- the
American Beverage Institute, which represents the liquor industry.

Proposals by Rep. Harold Dutton, D-Houston, to lower the level even
further -- to zero and .05 percent -- were defeated overwhelmingly.
Hochberg and others said those levels were too stringent. Some members
raised questions about whether churchgoers who tasted wine, or people
who took certain medicines, could be charged with DWI under Dutton's
zero-tolerance proposal.

"We should draw the line in the dirt today," Dutton argued
unsuccessfully.

Backers of the lower blood-alcohol content legislation said it would
not only save lives but help Texas qualify for $12.4 million in
federal incentives to fight drunken driving. The grants from the
National Highway Safety Administration could be used for highway
safety and construction.