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SALT LAKE CITY — More than 10,000 people have signed an online petition opposing Utah's new law dropping the legal blood alcohol content for driving from .08 percent to .05 percent.

The American Beverage Institute, based in Washington, D.C., launched the petition a month ago as part of its ongoing campaign urging the state to repeal the law. The organization has taken out full-page newspaper ads in neighboring states designed to make potential tourists think twice about visiting Utah.

With the exception of a small fraction of ZIP codes from elsewhere, all of the signatures are from Utahns, according to the beverage institute.

State lawmakers passed and Gov. Gary Herbert signed the bill lowering the limit earlier this year. It is scheduled to go into effect Dec. 30, 2018.

A legislative committee is studying the law over the summer with the idea of possibly tweaking it. But bill sponsor Rep. Norm Thurston, R-Provo, and other GOP lawmakers say the .05 limit is set and there is no need to change it.

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