CLINTON SEEKS CURBS ON DRUNKEN DRIVING

WASHINGTON -- Looking at the dark side of the holidays, President Clinton
asked Congress on Saturday to impose a lower, uniform blood-alcohol level
for drunken driving across the nation.

He said the Justice and Transportation departments will use the leverage of
federal grants to persuade states to adopt low-tolerance standards on their
own.

In his weekly radio address, Clinton pointed to new research showing that in
1996, more than 46 million Americans drank or took drugs within two hours of
driving.

"The sight of a car weaving through traffic is an all-too-familiar and
frightening one for many Americans," he said. "Ask any parent, anyone who
has lost a loved one to an alcohol-related crash: One impaired driver is one
too many."

Clinton asked Congress to enact legislation next year to make a
blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent the national legal standard for
driving while drunk. That level is used by 16 states, including California,
and the District of Columbia.

Dropped by the wayside

The Senate voted earlier this year to penalize states that did not adopt the
0.08 standard. But the House declined to go along, deleting the provision
from the six-year highway-spending bill Congress passed in May.

"Tragically, the special interests blocked this lifesaving measure," Clinton
said.

Clinton said it is important to call attention to drunken driving during the
holidays, when millions of Americans take travel to visit families and
friends and alcohol often flows freely.

Last December, 1,300 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes even
though such deaths overall were at an all-time low for 1997, Clinton said.

Clinton noted that a new survey shows that in 1996, 28 percent of American
drivers, or 46.5 million people, used drugs, alcohol or both within two
hours of driving.

Most of those, or 30 million people, drank alcohol, according to the survey
by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study was based on
interviews with 12,000 drivers and data from the 1996 National Household
Survey on Drug Abuse.

Young drivers targeted

Clinton also announced that the Justice Department is making $25 million
available to states to help block the sale and consumption of alcohol by
young people aged 15 to 20. One-third of all crash fatalities in that age
group are alcohol-related, he said.

He also announced a new rule by the Department of Transportation that
strengthens state efforts to curb impaired driving.

The rule sets new criteria under which states can qualify for anti-DUI
grants. They include issuing licenses to young drivers on a graduated basis,
testing blood-alcohol levels in fatal car crashes, and establishing programs
to target drinking and driving among 21- to 34-year-olds.