Drunken driving bill goes to governor

State lawmakers overwhelmingly voted Thursday to lower Indiana's threshold for drunken driving to .08 percent blood-alcohol content. The legislation, which lended drama to this year's session, awaits Gov. Frank O'Bannon's signature.\nThe governor, who has lobbied for a lower threshold, pledged to sign the bill.\n"As the governor mentioned in his State of the State address, he will sign the bill," O'Bannon spokesman Thad Nation said. "He worked very hard to make sure it would go through."\nO'Bannon brokered a deal to get the legislation back on track after its sponsor, Republican Sen. Tom Wyss of Fort Wayne, withdrew his support last month. A House amendment that would allow a person to hold more than one beer wholesaler's license in Indiana angered Wyss, who advanced similar bills in 10 of the past 11 years.\nAccusing House Democrats of "playing political games with a life-or-death issue," Wyss said he would pull the plug on the legislation.\nThe governor then met with party leaders in both chambers and found a new Senate sponsor. Lawmakers agreed to remove the beer wholesaler language, added by Rep. Robert Kruzeman, D-Crown Point. The provision has since been attached to pending legislation.\nAfter O'Bannon resurrected the bill, it breezed through the Senate without provisions 41-8. It met even less resistance in the House Thursday, passing 87-4. \nWyss declined to speak with reporters Thursday. \nCurrent state law makes it a crime to drive with blood-alcohol content at or above .10 percent. Highway safety advocates contend most motorists are impaired well below that level.\n"With this proposal in place, we have another tool in our efforts to keep people who drink and drive off the road," House sponsor Rep. Peggy Welch, D-Bloomington, said. "There has been a demonstrated impact in other states that have enacted this change, and I feel we must do everything in our power to make sure that the risks created by drunken drivers are drastically reduced."\nWhile some lawmakers backed the legislation in the hope of saving lives, approving the initiative had economic appeal.\nFormer President Bill Clinton signed a federal law last fall that will withold highway money from states that do not lower their limits to .08 by 2003. At the time, Indiana was one of 31 states that still had .10 as its legal limit. Indiana stood to lose up to $56 milllion and will receive a $12 million incentive for lowering the threshold at the first opportunity. \n"It's quite a relief that this finally passed," Senate Republican caucus spokesman Randy Campbell said. "It's just unfortunate that it had to come under the hammer of a federal mandate."\nAccording to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, the typical 170-pound man would have to consume four drinks in an hour to reach .08, while a 137-pound woman would need three drinks.\nUnder the bill, which will go into this July, a judge can defer prosecution of a first-time offender with a blood-alcohol level between .08 and .10 so long as the person isn't responsible for death or property damage. The offender will have to go through a probationary period and an alcohol counseling course.