Legislators says 2002 may be the year to lower legal alcohol limit

Key state legislative leaders say 2002 may be the year Iowa gets tougher on drunk drivers.Twenty-nine states, Washington D-C and Puerto Rico have passed strict laws dropping the legal blood-alcohol limit to point-oh-eight — something Iowa lawmakers have tried to do, unsuccessfully, for several years. Cedar Rapids republican Chuck Larson Junior, who chairs the House Judiciary Committee, says dropping Iowa’s rate from point-one would save lives. Senator Gene Maddox, the Clive republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee, expects point-oh-eight to pass his panel in the next session. If Iowa fails to do so within the next few years, the state will lose more than 47-million dollars in federal road money.