DC drunken driving law
Washington, DC has had this law on its books since 1998 that any driver can be arrested for DUI with as little as .01 BAC, if in the judgment of the officer the driver appears intoxicated.
Yesterday they eased that stance, voting 9-3 for legislation under which drivers with less than .05 blood alcohol would be presumed to be not intoxicated. Mayor Anthony A. Williams, who called the bill “hastily written,'’ has 10 days to decide whether to veto it.
The Washington Post further reports:
“D.C. is once again open for business,” said council member Carol Schwartz (R-At Large), principal author of the legislation. She said visitors “can come in and have a glass of wine and not be harassed or intimidated.”
The changes would place alcohol levels from .05 to .079 in a “neutral zone” that would require other factors, such as sobriety field tests, to establish a driver’s impairment. The changes would bring District law in line with that of Virginia, Maryland and other states.
The council’s action comes after a series of embarassing articles in Post documented cases where individuals were jailed for drunk driving despite blood alcohol readings of 0.00 or 0.03 in breath tests. Officers citing a “zero tolerance” policy would arrest anyone who admitted to having just one drink before driving. These motorists would then be offered a clean record if they paid a $400 “counseling fee.”
