Published: Oct 5, 2000 5:14 p.m. ET

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New blood-alcohol initiative a reminder of financial toll

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WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- Anyone inclined to climb behind the wheel after a few drinks has a new incentive to surrender the keys.

"People don't understand what it can do to them."
Robert Emmer, Financial planner

Congress pushed states Wednesday to adopt a tough national standard for drunk driving within two years or risk losing their annual federal highway funding. It set the legal blood-alcohol limit at 0.08 percent, the same level as in Canada, Japan, and Australia.

While public safety is the immediate concern, those cited for driving under the influence (DUI) or driving while impaired (DWI) stand to take a big financial hit. In California, for example, the first offense carries an average of $5,000 in fines, court fees and mandatory education programs, Department of Motor Vehicles spokesman Evan Nossoff said.

Eighteen states already have the 0.08 percent limit, while 32 others use 0.1 percent as their benchmark. A projected 500 lives a year will be saved if all states adopt the new limit.

Intoxicated drivers are a pervasive problem, with alcohol-related crashes injuring 870,000 Americans and costing the public more than $110 billion in 1996, the last year figures are available, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Since instituting the 0.08 percent limit 10 years ago, California's annual alcohol-related road deaths dropped to 1,000 from 2,500 -- a level unmatched since 1958, Nossoff said.

DUI arrests are down 25 percent from the 360,000 recorded a decade ago, he said. Savings from ambulance service, police investigations and emergency room costs are in the "tens of millions" of dollars.

"Every time we have tightened DUI laws, deaths have dropped," Nossoff said. "There's been a massive change in the public perception of driving while drunk."

Tough sell

Public campaigns such as MADD's have succeeded in raising awareness, but coercing people to refrain from social drinking has been a hard sell compared to the now-politically correct consensus on smoking, said Robert Emmer, a certified financial planner in Mill Valley, Calif.

"It's a big deal."
William Kring,Financial planner

"If you have one drink at all, I tell people just don't get in the car," Emmer said. "People don't really have an understanding of what it can do to them."

What's more, juries tend to be severe in awarding damages in alcohol-related accidents involving a child or injuries, Emmer said. "If someone was killed or disabled, they will come after you with both barrels, and that to me is probably bigger than anything else."

At the very least, car insurance rates soar after a citation. Someone who's picked up for a first-time DUI can face as much as doubled rates, or the company could decide not to renew the policy, depending on the driver's record, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a trade group. If that person also is in an accident, the company could cancel the policy or not cover the event, spokesman Steve Goldstein said.

"It's a big deal," Atlanta-based financial planner William Kring said, adding that clients with DUI records often go without insurance because they're ashamed. "They don't want it to show up. There's a social stigma with that, so they want to lie low."

Employers crack down

In South Carolina, a first offense often comes with a $600 fine, jail time, six months without a license, and increased auto premiums of $5,000 a year for three years, DUI defense attorney Reese Joye said. The violation stays on a person's record for 10 years.

Joye, who considers himself a costly lawyer, charges $6,500 for a first offense. He said employment also is jeopardized in DUI cases. Many of his clients would be fired if they were found guilty, and some have been terminated as their cases were being tried, he said.

Even in a tight labor market, the same bias extends to recruitment. "If a clean-cut college student is looking for a job and someone just as competent wanted the same job and had a DUI, who would you hire?" Joye said.

While alcohol's impact varies from person to person, a lower level would mean a 170-pound man would generally be over the limit if he had four 12-ounce beers in two hours versus five under the 0.1 percent limit. On average, a 120-pound woman would exceed the new limit at three 12-ounce beers in that time.

Because measuring blood-alcohol content is far from scientific, especially when trying to self-assess, experts say, it pays to err on the side of the conservative.

Said Emmer: "Even if you spend 50 or 60 bucks on a taxicab, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than landing the night in jail and all the other stuff that goes with it."

Kristen Gerencher writes about health care for MarketWatch.

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