<html> <head> <title>Clinton Wants New Drunk Driving Law</title> <meta http-equiv="Expire" content="now"> <meta name="timestamp" content="10:06 a.m. EST"> <meta name="time" content="199812261006"> <meta name="sortcode" content="1151"> <meta name="priority" content="r"> <meta name="headline" content="Clinton Wants New Drunk Driving Law"> <meta name="category" content="w"> <meta name="grouplist" content="Washington,News"> <meta name="deletetime" content="914728803"> <meta name="dateline" content=" WASHINGTON -- "> <meta name="lead" content="President Clinton today urged Congress to lower the blood-alcohol level for drunken driving, saying new research shows millions of Americans take a drink or a drug just before taking the steering wheel. "> </head> <NYT_HEADER version="1.0" type="main"> <BODY bgcolor="#ffffff" link=#0000ab vlink=#4444ab> <table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <td align=left valign=top width=60> </td> <td align=left valign=top width=480> <NYT_BANNER version="1.0" type="main"> <img src="http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/1banbreak.gif" border=0 WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=40 ALT=banner> </NYT_BANNER> <NYT_TOOLBARMAP version="1.0" type="main"> <map name="maintoolbar2"> <area shape="rect" coords="0,0,75,16" href="/yr/mo/day/" onMouseOver="window.status='Click to go to the Home Page';return true"> <area shape="rect" coords="76,0,154,16" href="/info/contents/siteindex.html" onMouseOver="window.status='Click to see site contents';return true"> <area shape="rect" coords="155,0,233,16" href="/search/daily/" onMouseOver="window.status='Click to search the current site';return true"> <area shape="rect" coords="234,0,312,16" href="/comment/" onMouseOver="window.status='Click for discussion in the Forums';return true"> <area shape="rect" coords="313,0,391,16" href="/archives/" onMouseOver="window.status='Click to search the archives';return true"> <area shape="rect" coords="392,0,468,16" href="/marketplace/" onMouseOver="window.status='Click to visit the Marketplace';return true"> </map> </NYT_TOOLBARMAP> <NYT_TOOLBAR version="1.0" type="main"> <a href="/images/maintoolbar2.map"> <img src="http://graphics.nytimes.com/images/maintoolbar2.gif" border="0" alt="toolbar" ismap usemap=#maintoolbar2 width="468" height="16"></a> </NYT_TOOLBAR> <NYT_AD version="1.0" location="top"> <A HREF="http://images.nytimes.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Drunk-Driving.html/0/Top/palpro01/pala-head.GIF/757377613132" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://images.nytimes.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Drunk-Driving.html/0/Top/palpro01/pala-head.GIF/757377613132" border=0 WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 ALT="Have the Times delivered" ></A> </NYT_AD> </td></table> </NYT_HEADER> <BLOCKQUOTE><BLOCKQUOTE> <NYT_DATE version="1.0"> <h5>December 26, 1998</h5> </NYT_DATE> <NYT_HEADLINE version="1.0" type="main"> <h2>Clinton Wants New Drunk Driving Law</h2> </NYT_HEADLINE> <NYT_LINKS_ONSITE version="1.0"> <hr size=1> A.P. INDEXES: <a href="/aponline/">TOP STORIES</a> | <a href="/aponline/indexNews.html">NEWS</a> | <a href="/aponline/indexSports.html">SPORTS</a> | <a href="/aponline/indexBusiness.html">BUSINESS</a> | <a href="/aponline/indexTechnology.html">TECHNOLOGY</a> | <a href="/aponline/indexEntertainment.html">ENTERTAINMENT</a> <hr size=1> </NYT_LINKS_ONSITE> Filed at 10:06 a.m. EST <NYT_BYLINE version="1.0"> <h5>By The Associated Press</h5> </NYT_BYLINE> <NYT_TEXT version="1.0"> WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Clinton today urged Congress to lower the blood-alcohol level for drunken driving, saying new research shows millions of Americans take a drink or a drug just before taking the steering wheel. In his weekly radio address, Clinton asked Congress to enact legislation next year to make a blood-alcohol content of .08 percent the national legal limit for driving while intoxicated. That level currently is used by 16 states and the District of Columbia. The Senate earlier this year voted to penalize states that did not adopt the .08 standard, but the House refused to go along and the provision was left out of the six-year, $203 billion highway and mass transit spending bill that Congress passed in May. The president said he felt compelled to issue his call during the Christmas holidays, when more alcohol is flowing at parties. He noted that 1,300 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes in December 1997 -- during a year in which such deaths were at an all-time low -- and urged Americans to be more cautious this year. ``Think before getting behind the wheel,'' Clinton said. ``If you've had too much to drink, hand your keys to a designated driver. Together, we can make sure the new year is, indeed, a safe and happy one for all Americans.'' Clinton noted a new survey that showed in 1996, 28 percent of American drivers -- 46.5 million people -- used drugs, alcohol or both within two hours of driving. The majority of those, 38 million, drank alcohol, according to the survey by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The study was based on interviews with 12,000 drivers and data from the 1996 National Household Survey on Drug Abuse. ``The sight of a car weaving through traffic is an all-too-familiar and frightening one for many Americans,'' Clinton said. ``Ask any parent, any family, anyone who has lost a loved one to an alcohol-related crash. One impaired driver is one too many.'' Clinton announced today that the Justice Department is making $25 million available to states to help block the sale and consumption of alcohol by youth aged 15 to 20, saying one-third of vehicle fatalities in that age group are alcohol-related. He also announced a new rule by the Department of Transportation that strengthens state efforts to curb impaired driving. The rule sets new criteria under which states can qualify for anti-DUI grants, such as issuing licenses to young drivers on a graduated basis, testing blood-alcohol levels in fatal car crashes and establishing programs to target driving and driving among people aged 21 to 34. The grants are issued under the Alcohol-Impaired Driving Grant Incentive Program. Signed into law by Clinton last summer, they are authorized at $219.5 million over six years. But lowering the blood-alcohol content would be the most effective way to handle the problem, Clinton said. ``I am determined to succeed in setting a .08 standard in the new year,'' Clinton said. ``It's the right thing to do.'' </NYT_TEXT> <NYT_FOOTER version="1.0"> </BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE> <table border=0 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0> <td align=left valign=top width=60> </td> <td align=center valign=top width=468> <NYT_AD version="1.0" location="bottom"> <A HREF="http://images.nytimes.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Drunk-Driving.html/0/Bottom/palpro01/PALb-3TAL.GIF/757377613132" target="_top"><IMG SRC="http://images.nytimes.com/RealMedia/ads/adstream_lx.ads/www.nytimes.com/aponline/w/AP-Clinton-Drunk-Driving.html/0/Bottom/palpro01/PALb-3TAL.GIF/757377613132" border=0 WIDTH=468 HEIGHT=60 ALT="Have the Times delivered" ></A> </NYT_AD><hr size=1> <NYT_TOOLBAR version="1.0" type="main" location="bottom"> <A HREF="/">Home</A> | <A HREF="/info/contents/siteindex.html">Site Index</A> | <A HREF="/search/daily/">Site Search</A> | <A HREF="/comment/">Forums</A> | <A HREF="/archives/">Archives</A> | <A HREF="/marketplace/">Marketplace</A> <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/late/">Quick News</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/front/">Page One Plus</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/world/">International</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/national/">National/N.Y.</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/business/">Business</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/tech/">Technology</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/science/">Science</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/sports/">Sports</A> | <A HREF="/weather/">Weather</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/editorial/">Editorial</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/oped/">Op-Ed</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/artleisure/">Arts</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/auto/">Automobiles</A> | <A HREF="/books/yr/mo/day/home/">Books</A> | <A HREF="/diversions/">Diversions</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/jobmarket/">Job Market</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/realestate/">Real Estate</A> | <A HREF="/yr/mo/day/travel/">Travel</A> <A HREF="/subscribe/help/">Help/Feedback</A> | <A HREF="/classified/">Classifieds</A> | <A HREF="/info/contents/services.html">Services</A> | <A HREF="http://www.nytoday.com">New York Today</A> </NYT_TOOLBAR> <NYT_COPYRIGHT version="1.0" type="main"> <A HREF="/subscribe/help/copyright.html">Copyright 1998 The New York Times Company</A> The information contained in this AP Online news report may not be republished or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. </NYT_COPYRIGHT> </td></table> </NYT_FOOTER> </BODY> </HTML>