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Letter: Legislature’s claim it makes laws to ‘save lives’ doesn’t hold up

This ad from the American Beverage Institute ran in the Idaho Statesman and attacks Utah's DUI law.

The state Legislature supports a .05 blood alcohol limit for driving in Utah on the grounds that “if it saves one life” it is a good idea, and cites the National Transportation Safety Board as supporting the lower .05 limit.

Yet the NTSB (Google it) says driving speeds kill as many as alcohol does on the roads, and we have one of the highest highway speed limits in the nation. The NTSB (Google it) also supports primary offense laws banning cellphone use while driving, yet our Legislature rejects this on the grounds of personal liberty and such. Hmm?

Consistency is the true test of moral equanimity in advancing such laws.

No one supports unsafe roads, so why is it that laws that will surely save lives are not adopted when they regulate the behavior of all Utah residents, but are adopted when they regulate the behavior of only those who are not in the conservative majority in the Legislature?

Only takes a minute to figure this out.

Jerry Petersen, Salt Lake City

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