Advocates and other safety partners have written to leadership in the House Committee on Transportation in the Hawaii legislature in support of enactment of Senate Bill (SB) 2463. This legislation will lower the per se limit of alcohol-impaired driving to .05 percent blood alcohol concentration (BAC), deter drunk driving and save lives.
Drunk driving is a deadly, growing and costly threat to Hawaii families. In 2024, there were an overall estimated 102 fatalities on Hawaii roads according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) which is a 10 percent increase since 2015. Additionally, 42 percent of Hawaii traffic deaths in 2023 involved drunk driving which is the highest proportion of any state and much higher than the national average of 30 percent. Moreover, traffic fatalities involving drunk driving increased 30 percent in the state from 2014 to 2023.
Opponents may claim that lowering the BAC will impact the economy by decreasing alcohol sales, but reducing BAC limits does not discourage alcohol consumption. It does discourage driving after drinking. When Utah reduced its BAC limit from .08 to .05 percent, alcohol sales and tourism went up while drunk driving arrests went down.
Read the full letter here.
We previously advocated for SB 2463 in a letter to the Senate Committee on Transportation.