Since the inception of MADD, the mantra has been, “If you drink, don’t drive. If you drive, don’t drink!” Lowering the threshold from .08% to .05% reinforces that mantra, and the bottom line, will prevent crashes and injuries, and most importantly will save lives.
In 2016, after a 30-year career, I retired at the rank of major from the Honolulu Police Department and joined the MADD Hawaii Advisory Board with the goal of eliminating impaired drivers on our roadways across Hawaii.
My introduction to MADD Hawaii came in 1991, after I was touched by two impaired-driving tragedies. The first, was when my Police Academy classmate, Officer Randy Young, was giving a speeding citation on the Pali Highway when he was struck and killed by a hit-and-run impaired driver.
The second was the Bucky Lake tragedy. Bucky was impaired, speeding and driving recklessly when he crossed the center line on Kalanianaole Highway, near Makapuu, crashing head on with another vehicle, and killing five people. Soon after, I met Carol McNamee, the founder of MADD Hawaii, and started my journey with MADD Hawaii, to further the effort to eliminate impaired drivers on our roadways.
Just last weekend, a 27-year-old impaired driver in Nanakuli crashed his vehicle into a parked car, senselessly killing a 38-year-old mother and her 7-year-old daughter and seriously injuring her 17-year-old daughter. This should be completely unacceptable and serious changes to current laws need to be made to end impaired driving.
This legislative session, through Senate Bill 2096, state lawmakers have a chance to enact such a change by passing a bill lowering the blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limit for drivers and operators of a vehicle, from .08% to .05%.
A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) study released just two weeks ago shows that this bill will save lives and increase road safety. It examined Utah before and after lowering the BAC from .08% to .05%, and found that fatal crash rates dropped by 19.8% and fatality rates by 18.3%, compared to 5.6% and 5.9% reductions, respectively, in the rest of the U.S. Utah’s reduction in fatalities is more than three times lower than that of all other states with a .08 BAC limit.
The scale of Hawaii’s drunken driving crisis with its associated vehicle crashes, injuries and deaths, demands leadership! NHTSA’s alcohol-impaired driving data from 2019 ranks Hawaii the sixth- highest state in the nation for the percentage of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities, with 34% of all driving fatalities associated with alcohol impairment.
The bill to lower the BAC limit from .08% to .05% is SB 2096. At a Feb. 18 hearing, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed the measure with amendments. This bill now moves to the Senate floor to be voted on by all senators present. We urge the public to contact their respective senators to advocate for the passage of this bill as a monumental step toward preventing impaired driving fatalities that have plagued our islands for far too long.
If passed by the Senate, it will move to the House for consideration. Those interested in the progress of the bill and providing testimony may sign up on the Hawaii State Legislature website to track the bill and receive notices when it is scheduled for hearings in the House.
It’s not too late to take action this year. Impaired driving affects all of us, and lowering the blood alcohol concentration limit for driving is a critical form of prevention, one that will make our roads safer. We believe it’s the right thing to do.
We hope our lawmakers do, too.
Kurt Kendro retired after 30 years with the Honolulu Police Department, was an adjunct professor at Chaminade University for 10 years, and now chairs the Public Policy Committee for the MADD Hawaii Advisory Board.
