The evidence below explains why a .05 BAC legal limit is critical in our fight to reduce drunk driving deaths in Michigan.
Our objective:
Michigan must pass a law to lower the state’s BAC threshold from .08 to .05 immediately.
You can read and download the data, fact sheets, and research below to learn how a .05 BAC public policy change will save lives. These documents will open as PDF files.
.05% Saves Lives Michigan Coalition Issue Brief
Our Coalition’s two-page fact sheet identifying the problem, supporting data, and the solution. (January 2025)
National Transportation Safety Board .05 BAC Safety Briefing Facts
The National Transportation Safety Board‘s (NTSB) overview, which outlines national data about drunk-driving and research supporting a .05 BAC. This report focuses on nationwide statistics, whereas our Coalition’s Issue Brief above contains Michigan-specific data.
Evaluation of Utah’s .05 BAC Per Se Law
The “Evaluation of Utah’s .05 BAC Per Se Law” study above examines the following publicly available data to conclude how the .05 BAC legislation impacted Utah’s economy:
- alcohol sales
- tourism rates
- sales tax revenue
This case study was published by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and explores the results around the nation’s first successful passage of .05 BAC legislation (February 2022).
The effectiveness of a 0.05 blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for driving in the United States
A case demonstrating the strong evidence to adopt a .05 BAC limit, as published in the scientific journal Addiction (June 2015).
Addiction is a peer-reviewed journal published by the research organization The Society for the Study of Addiction (SSA), whose mission is to share scientific findings within the field of addiction.
Costs of Alcohol-Involved Traffic Crashes in Michigan
This is a one-page abstract from the University of Michigan Traffic Research Institute’s (UMTRI) research study entitled “Societal Costs of Traffic Crashes and Crime in Michigan: 2023 Update”. This abstract was developed to summarize and highlight the alcohol-involved traffic crash costs investigated within this study. (January 2025)
How to Contact Your Legislators
You can download this “How to Contact Your Legislators” document which contains detailed instructions on how you can best connect with your Michigan State Legislators. This file will download as a word doc in a separate tab.
Bibliography – .05 BAC Saves Lives
This document cites more than 35 research materials related to the .05 BAC limit — for those who want read some of the original research on this .05 BAC limit issue.