History of DUI Laws
In modern times all of the states across the country have a set of rules and punishments regarding drunk driving. Some states refer to it as driving under the influence (DUI), others call it driving while intoxicated (DWI) and a few states refer to the act as operating under the influence (OUI). Regardless of the acronym all states consider this a very serious offense and deliver swift penalties to deter future problems. However, the current laws are vastly different from the original rules first laid out by the states.
First Drunk Driving Law
In 1910 the state of New York became the first jurisdiction to enact news laws that addressed drunk driving as a crime. Not long after, the state of California adopted laws similar to New York. Eventually the remainder of all the states enacted their own version of DUI laws. At first, the laws merely stated that it was unlawful for any person to operate a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. However, officers merely had to prove that the person was intoxicated, regardless of the blood alcohol content (BAC) in the person's body.
Research Leads to Change in Laws
In the late 1930's two different groups were asked to study vehicle accidents as well as determine intoxication levels. The American Medical Association was assigned the task of looking at vehicle accidents and try to determine the top causes of most accidents. The National Safety Council went to work on studying the drinking habits of people and determining how alcohol affected the body and at what point a person was considered impaired.
The work of these two agencies led to the initial conclusion that a BAC of 0.15 was sufficient to cause a person's driving to be significantly impaired. In 1938 this level was the first legal limit adopted by most states as the bench mark to determine drunk driving.
Influence of Special Interest Groups on Laws
In the 1970's two similar groups became lobbying with congress to make the drunk driving laws much stricter. Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) along with the group Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD) started using examples of young drivers being either harmed or killed in drunk driving accidents as proof that something needed to be done about the current framework of the laws.
One of the changes brought by these groups was the increase in the legal age to buy alcoholic beverages. All 50 states changed their laws to require that all persons must be at least 21 in order to purchase any alcohol. To go along with this change new zero tolerance laws became prevalent in a lot of states. These laws state that any driver under the age of 21 is considered to be DUI if their BAC is between .01 and .02.
In addition the generally accepted drunk driving BAC level of .15 was first lowered to .10. Later on, more pressure and outcry from the special interest groups led to lowering the level again to .08. Federal law has enacted the BAC level of .08 for all states.
Use of Equipment
Dr. Rolla Harger developed the Drunkometer in 1936 to determine a person's level of drunkenness. Harger was a professor of biochemistry as well as toxicology and invented this balloon type equipment that people would breathe into.
Later on in 1953 a former police officer who had become a professor at a university completed his work on the Breathalyzer. This professor was Robert Borkenstein and he had worked with Dr. Harger on the Drunkometer. The breathalyzer could determine the concentration of alcohol in a person's body using photometry and chemical oxidation. By blowing into the machine the alcohol vapors could be measured and determine the person's BAC. Police officers appreciated the accuracy and ease of use presented by the Breathalyzer.
Positive Effects on DUI Offenses
The changes in the various laws as well as the introduction of equipment to test for DUI has resulted in a number of positive effects. In 1980 60% of the number of automobile crashes that led to a death involved the use of alcohol. A study published in 1993 found that the percentage had declined to 43%.