opinion

How Iowa can get serious about reducing drunken-driving tragedies

A rose to a new federal report that calls for higher taxes on alcohol. Yes, this means you, Iowa, which has one of the lowest beer taxes in the nation.

The new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine drew attention for calling on states to lower the threshold for drunken driving from 0.08 to 0.05 percent blood alcohol concentration. But the 489-page report made many other recommendations that deserve attention if we want to reduce preventable alcohol-related deaths.

Those recommendations include significantly increasing state and federal alcohol taxes, even though Congress just did the opposite. The new tax bill passed in December will cut excise taxes on beer, wine and distilled spirits over the next two years.

But the report cites research suggesting that a doubling of alcohol taxes could lead to an 11 percent reduction in traffic crash deaths, as well as reducing binge drinking.

Iowans pay a beer excise tax of 19 cents a gallon — which is a little more than a dime a six-pack. The tax was last raised in 1986.

Thirty states have higher beer taxes. Iowa’s is less than Minnesota, Nebraska, Illinois and the Dakotas.

The Alliance of Coalitions for Change, a group of Iowa organizations focused on substance abuse, recommends raising the beer tax 54 cents a gallon, to 73 cents. That works out to an increase of about a nickel a serving. It would raise an additional $40 million a year, based on the 73.8 million gallons of beer sold last year.

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A thistle to Iowa’s weak drunken-driving laws. Last week, Mothers Against Drunk Driving rated Iowa’s laws among the worst in the nation. Iowa scored one and a half stars; only Montana and Michigan scored lower.

The study follows a Register report last year showing that Iowa's sentencing laws for drivers repeatedly caught driving under the influence are more lenient than in many other states. It also showed that Iowa has made little or no progress in reducing fatal crashes involving alcohol or lessening the percentage of intoxicated drivers who are repeat offenders.

MADD recommends that Iowa require ignition interlock devices for all offenders; increase sobriety checkpoints; make child endangerment a felony; and expedite warrants for suspected drunken drivers who refuse an alcohol test. The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine report (mentioned above) makes similar recommendations.

On top of those ideas, a statewide coalition has made 66 recommendations for stopping impaired driving. Only one has been adopted: a 24/7 sobriety program, which requires offenders to undergo twice-a-day alcohol testing. The Legislature passed that last session, but the version is weak.

Given that one of their members was arrested recently for drunken driving, lawmakers might want to make a statement this session. They could get more serious about adopting the recommendations, such as examining penalties for repeat offenders, revamping treatment programs and implementing the Place of Last Drink program, which requires that OWI offenders disclose where they were served their last drink.

One sign of progress: In July, Iowa will require all ignition interlocks be equipped with cameras, a move that will ensure drivers required to take alcohol-content breath tests don’t have someone else blow into the device.