THOUSANDS AS DRUNK AS DIANA'S CHAUFFEUR

2,908 arrested drivers had blood alcohol levels of 0.24% or more in state

By Larry Sandler of the Journal Sentinel

Thousands of Wisconsin drivers are hitting the road with more alcohol in
their systems than Princess Diana's notoriously drunken chauffeur, state
records show.

Of 28,524 drivers who took alcohol tests last year after being arrested on
suspicion of drunken driving, 2,908, or more than 10%, registered blood
alcohol concentrations of 0.24% or greater, says a new report by the state
Department of Transportation.

That means that, every day in Wisconsin, law enforcement officers arrest an
average of eight drivers who are as drunk as or drunker than Henri Paul,
the French chauffeur in the Aug. 31 crash that killed the Princess of Wales
and her companion, millionaire Dodi Fayed.

Paul who also died in the Paris crash became an international symbol
of drunken driving after tests reportedly measured his blood alcohol
content at 1.87 grams per liter, nearly four times France's legal limit.
That translates into a 0.24% blood alcohol concentration, more than twice
the 0.10% level that constitutes evidence of drunken driving in Wisconsin.

The Transportation Department's annual report, "Wisconsin Alcohol Traffic
Facts," shows 670 drivers were arrested at the 0.24% level in Wisconsin in
1996, and 2,238 registered higher levels.

Among them were 15 drivers with blood alcohol levels of 0.40% or greater,
including two who registered levels of 0.53%.

A Massachusetts Institute of Technology student who died of an alcohol
overdose Sept. 29 registered a blood alcohol concentration of 0.41%. But
experts say higher levels are not uncommon in longtime alcoholics.

Another 21,607 drivers registered blood alcohol concentrations between
0.10% and 0.23%; 1,333 registered levels between 0.01% and 0.09%; and 2,676
registered no alcohol or unknown levels, for a median reading of 0.16%.
Those figures do not include drivers who refused to take the test.

While the highest blood alcohol levels are cause for concern, safety
advocates said lower levels also interfere with driving.

"What it says is that drunk driving is still a problem," Sandra Nadeau,
Wisconsin executive director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, said of the
figures. "People think this is no longer a problem, but it is."

Derse Smith Todd, executive director of Business Against Drunk Driving,
added: "Legally drunk is just that legally drunk. And the devastation,
death, injury, financial loss, property damage can all occur regardless of
the (blood alcohol) level."

Drivers can be impaired and arrested for drunken driving even if
their blood alcohol levels are below 0.10%, noted Todd, whose national
organization is based in Milwaukee. That's why it's a good idea to use
designated drivers, she said.

Nadeau said the figures support her Fond du Lacbased group's push for
lowering Wisconsin's legal limit to 0.08%. That would deter people from
drinking and driving, she said.

Tavern owners, backed by northern Wisconsin lawmakers, have opposed the
0.08% limit, which they say would punish social drinkers.

But Nadeau said the lower limit would target impaired drivers, not social
drinkers.

For a 170pound man, a 0.10% level is equivalent to five drinks in one
hour, while 4 1/2 drinks would produce a 0.08% reading. Henri Paul's 0.24%
level was equal to 11 shots of whiskey consumed in an hour.

High Death Toll

Although drunken drivers account for a relatively small percentage of total
crashes in Wisconsin, they are disproportionately responsible for traffic
deaths, the state report shows.

About 7% of last year's traffic crashes were alcoholrelated, but alcohol
was involved in 39% of traffic fatalities, or 295 deaths, the
Transportation Department reported. Of 418 people who died in the driver's
seat, 157, or 38%, registered blood alcohol levels of 0.10% or greater, the
report says.

Safety advocates will be stepping up their campaign against impaired
driving during December, which is National Drunk and Drugged Driving
Awareness Month, Nadeau said.