美国国家公共电台 NPR Utah First In The Nation To Lower Its DUI Limit To .05 Percent

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

This Sunday in Utah, the legal blood alcohol limit will drop from .08 percent to .05. It's the lowest DUI limit in the country. Nicole Nixon of member station KUER has this report.

NICOLE NIXON, BYLINE¹: A couple blocks on Main Street in downtown Salt Lake City are lined with bars. It's pretty quiet on a December weeknight. But people like Marcia and Craig Hartman are still bustling² around. Like most Utahns, the couple has mixed feelings on the state's new DUI limit. She calls it stupid. But he's more indifferent.

MARCIA HARTMAN: Oh, I just don't think it needs to be more restrictive than other states have. And he's a non-drinker.

CRAIG HARTMAN: Yeah, it doesn't bother me.

(LAUGHTER)

NIXON: Utah's strict new DUI limit passed to loud opposition³ from restaurant and hospitality groups, who worried the law would hurt business. For many Utahns, it means about half as many drinks when they go out. If you're a 180-pound man, about four drinks will get you to a blood alcohol content of .08 percent. But under the new limit in Utah, anything more than two drinks in an hour, and you're legally impaired⁴. It's even less alcohol for women.

NORM THURSTON: .08 for a lot of people is a significant amount of drinking.

NIXON: That's Norm Thurston, the Republican lawmaker who ran the bill at the request of the National Transportation Safety Board. Thurston believes the new limit will save lives because it sends a strict message that anyone who's been drinking should not get behind the wheel.

THURSTON: You would think that we're already there as a society. But one of the things that I have learned through this process is that there are a lot of people out there that think it's OK to drink and drive just a little bit.

NIXON: Critics slammed Thurston for running the bill. He's a practicing member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which urges its members not to consume alcohol. Many accused the Mormon lawmaker of trying to legislate⁵ drinkers and non-Mormons.

The American Beverage⁶ Institute, an alcohol trade organization, has been a vocal⁷ critic of the law. Spokesman Jackson Shedelbower disagrees with the assertion that it will save lives. He says the lower limit targets moderate social drinkers, not those he calls legitimately⁸ drunk drivers.

JACKSON SHEDELBOWER: Nearly 70 percent of alcohol-related fatalities⁹ in this country are caused by someone with .15 and above. And that's three times what Utah is about to go to, three times the limit.

NIXON: The law passed in 2017. But since then, there have been several attempts to roll it back, including one by state Senator Jim Dabakis earlier this year. Halfway¹⁰ through his argument in a Senate committee, the Salt Lake City Democrat¹¹ admitted he was impaired at the new legal limit.

JIM DABAKIS: I had breakfast. And then I went and had two mimosas, and I breathed at 0.5. So my entire presentation has been at 0.5.

NIXON: Tabac said he felt perfectly¹² fine, though what he meant to say was .05, not .5. Lawmakers rejected his and others' proposals, so the law will remain unchanged when it goes into effect this Sunday, the day before New Year's Eve. But will drunk driving arrests go up starting Sunday? Probably not, says Sergeant¹³ Nick Street with the Utah Highway Patrol.

SERGEANT NICK STREET: I think people are making better decisions on the front end of a night where they may go out and consume alcoholic¹⁴ beverages¹⁵ to the point where they're impaired.

NIXON: He believes the law has already had an impact even though it hasn't taken effect yet.

STREET: They're planning ahead with ride-sharing or with a designated driver with their group. Those things are happening.

NIXON: Back in the '80s, Utah and Oregon were the first states to lower their BAC limits from .10 to .08. As other states did the same in the following decades, the nation's rate of alcohol-related traffic deaths dropped 10 percent. Now Utah is hoping to be a pioneer in helping¹⁶ lower that number once again. For NPR News, I'm Nicole Nixon in Salt Lake City.

(SOUNDBITE OF MONSTER RALLY'S "SULTAN")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 bustling   

adj.喧闹的

参考例句：

• The market was bustling with life. 市场上生机勃勃。
• This district is getting more and more prosperous and bustling. 这一带越来越繁华了。

3 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

4 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 legislate   

vt.制定法律；n.法规，律例；立法

参考例句：

• Therefore,it is very urgent to legislate for the right of privacy.因此，为隐私权立法刻不容缓。
• It's impossible to legislate for every contingency.为每一偶发事件都立法是不可能的。

6 beverage   

n.(水，酒等之外的)饮料

参考例句：

• The beverage is often colored with caramel.这种饮料常用焦糖染色。
• Beer is a beverage of the remotest time.啤酒是一种最古老的饮料。

7 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

8 legitimately   

ad.合法地；正当地，合理地

参考例句：

• The radio is legitimately owned by the company. 该电台为这家公司所合法拥有。
• She looked for nothing save what might come legitimately and without the appearance of special favour. 她要的并不是男人们的额外恩赐，而是合法正当地得到的工作。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 fatalities   

n.恶性事故( fatality的名词复数 )；死亡；致命性；命运

参考例句：

• Several people were injured, but there were no fatalities. 有几个人受伤，但没有人死亡。
• The accident resulted in fatalities. 那宗意外道致多人死亡。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 halfway   

adj.中途的，不彻底的，部分的；adv.半路地，在中途，在半途

参考例句：

• We had got only halfway when it began to get dark.走到半路，天就黑了。
• In study the worst danger is give up halfway.在学习上，最忌讳的是有始无终。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

13 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

14 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

15 beverages   

n.饮料( beverage的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• laws governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 控制酒类销售的法规
• regulations governing the sale of alcoholic beverages 含酒精饮料的销售管理条例

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。