With Spike in South Brunswick DUI Charges, Should Alcohol Limit Be Lowered?

Entering a time of the year where drunk driving incidents typically spike, South Brunswick Police have already seen a marked increase in DUI arrests thus far in 2013.

Police have reported a 50 percent increase in drunk driving charges during the first four months of 2013 compared to 2012. 

"So far we have made 34 arrests, which are double what we saw this time last year," said South Brunswick Traffic Safety Bureau Sgt. Ken Drost last month. "There does not appear to be any pattern of day, time, or location for the drunken driving arrests. We remain focused on strong enforcement efforts, but there is no one road or location where we are seeing the arrests come from."

Two of those incidents resulted in South Brunswick Police officers suffering injuries after motor vehicle collisions.

In January, Patrolman Angelo Zecca suffered contusions and bruising, in addition to a sprained ankle and whiplash, after his patrol car was struck on Route 27 shortly after midnight. 

On March 21, Patrolman Marc Lorenc was sitting in the driver’s seat of his police car, as his vehicle was shielding emergency personnel working at the scene of an earlier collision on Route 1 between a tractor trailer and a tanker truck. At about 1:45 a.m., a Kendall Park woman allegedly drove through the closed road and crashed into Lorenc's vehicle. Lorenc suffered a concussion and back injury in the crash. 

While DUI arrests have increased in South Brunswick, the threshold for intoxicated driving nationwide could soon be lowered if the National Transportation Safety Board has its way.

Last week, the NTSB recommended states lower the blood-alcohol threshold for driving under the influence from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent.

According to a 2011 Mothers Against Drunk Driving report, the latest available data shows New Jersey ranked 31st out of 51 states (including the District of Columbia) in drunken driving injuries and deaths. That year, there were 193 DUI fatalities, MADD said.

About 10,000 deaths nationwide a year are related to drunken driving. The NTSB says the lower limit would save 500 to 800 lives a year.

Officials at the American Beverage Institute called the proposal "ludicrous."

It said the average woman could reach the 0.05 percent limit by having one drink.

What do you think? Is this a reasonable proposal? Tell us in the comments.