State launches campaign to publicize new drunk driving standard

Iowa’s drunken driving law will get tougher tomorrow. You’ll be considered legally drunk at the point-oh-eight blood alcohol level. Iowa Public Safety Commission Kevin Techau is launching a public awareness campaign aimed at men between the ages of 18 and 34. Techau’s department has mailed out a rap song to 200 Iowa radio stations — a public service mesage about drunken driving and the new law. Many bar and restaurant owners fear the law will cut down on their profits. Doni Denucci of the Iowa Hospitality Association says the worry is that people will stop ordering that glass of wine with dinner, or may not even go out for dinner at all. Legislators who argued against the tougher law said it would make social drinkers into convicts. But Bill Shakelford, vice president of the Polk County chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving, says that’s a fallacy. He says a 170 pound man must drink four to five drinks on an empty stomach in an hour to get to point-oh-eight, and then consume at least one drink per hour after that to maintain that level of drunkenness.