The recent good news that deaths caused by drunk drivers have declined should be tempered by the fact that NHTSA (the National Highway Traffic Safety Association) failed to use the statistics on impaired drivers who had a BAC under .08. Hundreds of Americans are injured or killed by drivers in this catagory which NHTSA chose not to include in their annual report.

The fact is a driver is very impaired at .04 BAC and should be included in the official data presented by NHTSA to the general public. According former Surgen General Kopp, who recommended that the entry level for DWI should be .04, you begin to lose your peripheral vision at .04 and he suggests that the Congress should reduce the DWI threshold from .08 to .04. Concerned citizens can contact NHTSA (202-366-4000) and demand that the total content of impaired drivers causing death should be included in their reporting.