“Changing the law to .05 percent in Utah saved lives and motivated more drivers to take steps to avoid driving impaired.”

Dr. Steven Cliff, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s deputy administrator, regarding the decrease in traffic deaths, both involving and not involving alcohol, after the state changed the drunken driving threshold from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent blood alcohol content. However, critics of the change say that the decrease in traffic deaths has been a national trend and some states saw greater reduction in fatalities without changing their drunken driving threshold. (Associated Press — Feb. 11, 2022)