Hawaii Lawmakers Debate Lowering DUI Blood-Alcohol Limit to 0.05

Senate Bill 2463, which recently crossed over to the House, would redefine "under the influence" in state law by lowering the threshold of blood alcohol concentration for drivers from 0.08 to 0.05. The bill crossed over in the Legislature on March 10 and passed muster with the House Transportation Committee, bolstered by strong support from Hawaii's Department of Transportation. The House Judiciary Committee must also approve the bill before it can advance to a floor vote.

Forty-two percent of Hawaii traffic deaths in 2023 involved drunk driving, the highest proportion of any state and much higher than the national average of 30 percent. The state Department of Transportation has thrown its weight behind the change, writing in submitted testimony that "lowering the per se limit to 0.05 is supported by compelling evidence," citing research that estimated an 11.1% decline in fatal alcohol-related crashes when BAC limits are reduced to 0.05 or lower, and noting that impaired driving accounts for about one-third of traffic deaths in Hawaii, averaging 34 fatalities annually from 2020 to 2024.

Gov. Josh Green, appearing at a Mothers Against Drunk Driving press conference at the State Capitol in January to support the bills, pointed to the scale of the problem. "Many, many, many of those accidents that resulted in fatalities were preventable," Green said, adding that Transportation Director Ed Sniffen had told him "as many as 80% of those fatalities could be prevented, maybe even more." A working-group report commissioned by the legislature found that 39 of Hawaii's 93 traffic fatalities in 2023, the most recent year with complete toxicology data, involved drivers above the 0.08 BAC limit, and extrapolated that more than 150 of 2023's 524 crashes involving serious injuries may also have involved drivers above the legal limit.

Hawaii has one of the highest proportions of traffic deaths involving impaired driving in the nation, underscoring the importance of implementing policies that can help prevent injuries and save lives. On the Big Island specifically, the picture is stark: the Hawai'i Island Police Department recorded 76 DUI arrests so far this year, while the department's Traffic Services Section reported 119 major crashes, a 21.43% increase compared to last year when 98 major crashes were reported.

Not everyone is convinced the lower threshold will make roads safer. Don Murphy, who owns Murphy's Bar and Grill, said the proposal may hurt his business. "It's not going to help business, that's for sure," Murphy said. While Murphy supports preventing impaired driving, he questions whether lowering the limit will make a difference. "I just don't think that that's going to be that big of a deterrent," he said. Patron Kari Carolan, interviewed at Murphy's during the St. Patrick's Day lunchtime rush, said she doesn't believe that lowering the DUI threshold will lessen drunken driving deaths.

Opponents, including the Office of the Public Defender, argue the measure is unnecessary and could strain the legal system. "There is nothing to prevent the police to arrest a person … whose BAC level is under 0.08%," the office wrote in testimony. The public defender also warned that the bill could criminalize responsible drinkers and increase workloads for police and courts.

Rick Collins, project director for the Hawai'i Alcohol Policy Alliance, noted that a similar bill crossed over to the House in 2024 but failed to become law because some lawmakers were unsure whether lowering the threshold would actually prevent crashes. More than 65 people and organizations testified in support of a companion Senate measure before the Senate Judiciary Committee earlier this session, signaling that the effort has broader momentum this year than in previous cycles.

The bill passed the Hawaii state Senate on March 5 and is now being considered by the lower house. In 2018, Utah lowered its limit from 0.08 to 0.05 percent, referencing similar reasons to those put forward by campaigners in Hawaii, and passage here would make Hawaii only the second state in the country to cross that threshold. When Utah reduced its BAC limit, alcohol sales and tourism went up while drunk driving arrests went down, a data point supporters have repeatedly cited as the bill heads toward its next committee test.