Current Texas law states that if one’s blood alcohol level is .08 or higher, they are driving under the influence and too drunk to drive.

Now, however, there is a new push –spearheaded by Mothers Against Drunk Driving — that would designate a new, lower, blood alcohol level for a label of driving while intoxicated.

“We have a glaring hole in our system where people that the law presumes to be under the influence, but their cases are being bargained down to non-DWI charges like blocking the roadway or reckless driving,” Austin Chief of Police Art Acevedo said.

The new law seeks to make a blood alcohol level of .05-.07 be labeled as “DWAI,” or Driving While Ability Impaired.

State Senator John Whitmire, the Senate Criminal Justice Committee chairman, is against this new idea. “I just think the .05 is probably an over reach,” Whitmire said. “It’s getting pretty close to prohibition.”

Whitmire does agree that the system is broken and something must be done about these plea bargains and other legal machinations, but does not believe that this is the way to do it.

If you or someone you know has been charged with driving under the influence, contact the Houston DUI defense attorneys of Johnson, Johnson & Baer P.C. at 713-222-0400 to learn more about your rights.