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What the study found
Researchers compared crash fatality data in Utah against Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, and Wyoming before and after Utah's 0.05 BAC law took effect. Alcohol-related fatalities dropped significantly more in Utah than in those six states. Non-alcohol-related fatalities showed no similar change, which points to the law itself as the cause.
The drop wasn't limited to drivers near the 0.05 mark. Researchers saw declines across higher BAC levels too, suggesting the law changed drinking-and-driving behavior more broadly, not just at the margin.
Utah passed the law in 2017. It took effect in 2018. Every other state still uses a 0.08 limit.
By the numbers
12,429 — US crash fatalities in 2023 involving an alcohol-impaired driver
28-32% — Share of annual US traffic deaths tied to alcohol-impaired driving, every year from 2014-2023
25% — Increase in alcohol-impaired crash fatalities nationwide from 2014 to 2023
11%+ — Reduction in alcohol-related crashes other countries have seen after adopting a 0.05 limit
2013-2023 — Years of crash data researchers analyzed, using a 2016-2019 subsample for the core comparison
Why you should care
Drunk driving deaths haven't been going down nationally. They've been going up. Utah is the test case for whether a lower limit actually works, and this study says it does.
Lead author Kaigang Li, a researcher at Colorado State University, called it one of the most rigorous US evaluations of a 0.05 law to date.
Federico Vaca, an emergency medicine professor at UC Irvine who co-led the study, put it bluntly: every year states delay adopting a lower limit is a year of preventable deaths on the road.
What's next
Despite the data, and despite the National Transportation Safety Board's long-standing push for a national 0.05 limit, most states haven't moved. Researchers point to political resistance and public pushback as the main holdup, not lack of evidence.
For now, Utah remains the only state where 0.05 is the legal line. Drivers here should keep in mind: that's roughly two drinks for an average adult before you're over the limit, depending on your weight and how fast you drink.
Source: Findings are based on a study published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, led by researchers at Colorado State University and UC Irvine.