This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Here's why the 0.05 bill should be vetoed.
Picture a visiting conventioneer who enjoyed a nice meal with two glasses of good wine at a Salt Lake City restaurant. Driving back to the hotel at a BAC of 0.06, this out of towner is pulled over for a DUI.
For normal and legal behavior in every state except Utah, our out of town guest is arrested, fined thousands, loses his license and suffers all the other draconian DUI punishments.
This is lunacy. The 0.05 measure is a foolish message bill with the message: "Don't travel in Utah." Our conventioneer will be poisoned against Utah forever and will tell all his friends, "God damned Utah hit me with a DUI for nothing. I am never going back to that stinkhole."
Thanks to the one-year suspension of his driving license, he will be forcibly reminded of how much he hates Utah every day for that full year — every single day.
That's the downside to this foolish bill. Since impairment doesn't really begin until 0.08, the upside is imaginary. For the sake of our tourism, veto 0.05.
Paul Moore
Salt Lake City