I spent a fair amount of time looking, but this is the only document I was able to find (note, clicking on the lind downloads a small .pdf)
https://crashstats.nhtsa.dot.gov/Api/Public/ViewPublication/811654
The table combines all fatal accidents with BAC .01-.07 together, so it’s not possible to tease out the change which would result from the drop from .08 to .05.
I’m guessing that if 5% of fatalities fall in the under .07 range, that perhaps 1.5% would be in the bottom half.
So it’s not zero, and I apologize for talking through my hat on that. But it is a small number, less than 400 fatalities a year, and if we can extrapolate, less than 2% of alcohol related accidents.
Not an unalloyed good however. The tradeoff is the tens of thousands each year who would have their lives destroyed as the article explains, because they blew an 0.6 on the breathalyzer when in fact their driving skills were not impaired.
I don’t think that’s a tradeoff worth making.
