A new study by the Styrian Austrian Road Safety Board reviewed the effects of lowering the BAC from .08 to .05 percent in Styria. Comparing 1998, when the new BAC went into effect, to 1997, alcohol-related crashes declined 11.6 percent. There were 443 alcohol-related crashes in 1997 compared to 387 in 1998. The study concluded that lowering the BAC, along with corresponding enforcement and increased awareness, is a suitable way to reduce alcohol-related crashes. The study also found that driver behavior depended more firmly on the subjective sense of being monitored than on the actual amount of monitoring. The study showed that younger drivers were less affected by the lower BAC than older drivers. Drivers up to age 24 had about the same frequency of alcohol-related crashes in 1998 as in 1997. There was a slight downward trend for persons aged 25-54 and a significant downward trend for drivers over 55.
(Source: Verkehrspsychologischer Informationdienst, Mai, 2000; via The Newsletter of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs, and Traffic Safety [ICADTS] Vol. 11, No. 3; Summer 2000)