Administration endorses national 0.08 BAC.

The Clinton administration has endorsed a bill that would force two-thirds of the states to toughen their blood-alcohol content laws or risk losing federal highway money. "The president is ready today to sign this legislation," said Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.

The bill would require states to define drunken driving using a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent, instead of the more common level of 0.10 percent Seventeen states already use the lower limit

Maine shifted from 0.10 to 0.08 in August 1988, and the drop in alcohol-related fatalities has been dramatic, said Stephen McCausland, spokesman for the state Department of Public Safety. "It's been an overwhelming success for Maine," he said.

Prior to the change, roughly 50 to 60 percent of all traffic deaths were linked to alcohol, McCausland said, but the percentage since then has dropped to the 30 percent range.

"We attribute it primarily to the massive publicity that was given to the 0.08 law," he said.

Some opponents contend the bill would trample on states' rights. The American Beverage Institute said some states have rejected the lower limit because it doesn't work and would punish responsible social drinkers. "When people see the facts, they will operate as most state legislatures have operated, and they will reject 0.08 as meaningless," said Rick Berman, counsel for the organization that represents restaurant operators.

Under the bill, all states would have to adopt the 0.08 percent limit by 2000 or risk losing a portion of their federal highway dollars. The change would mean the difference between five drinks - such as 12-ounce beers or 5-ounce glasses of wine - and four drinks in one hour for a 170-pound man with an empty stomach. A 137-pound woman would reach 0.08 percent after three drinks in an hour, sponsors said.

"Nothing in this hill asks people to stop drinking. It tells drunks to stop driving," said Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., a prime sponsor.

Last year, 17,100 people died in alcohol-related vehicle crashes nationwide, about 41 percent of all traffic deaths, officials estimate. Nearly 42,000 people were killed on the nation's roadways. Of the total deaths, about 9%, or more than 3,700, involved drivers with blood-alcohol levels below the legal 0.10%.