Drunk Driving and Liquor Liability

In 2000, 16,068 people who had some measure of alcohol in their blood (at or below the legal limit) were killed in motor vehicle crashes, according to preliminary estimates from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Alcohol was present in the blood of 38 percent of people who died in crashes in 2000, the lowest level since record-keeping began in 1975. The campaign to deter drunk driving received a boost in October 2000 when then-President Clinton signed a bill reauthorizing highway funding that includes a provision that imposed sanctions on states that do not lower the blood alcohol level defining drunk driving to 0.08 from 0.10. If they do not comply, the states will forfeit federal highway construction funds beginning in fiscal year 2004.