Pick up a newspaper any day of the week and you're likely to be confronted with the details of a tragic death on a Texas highway caused by a drunk motorist.
In fact, Texas led the United States in the number of alcohol-related traffic deaths last year, according to the Texas Department of Public Safety. Some 53 percent of all Texas traffic deaths were alcohol-related, compared to 41 percent nationwide.
But pending federal legislation could reverse that trend and make Texas highways safer to travel on. The legislation would make a blood alcohol reading of 0.08 percent the national limit for driving impairment.
The legislation has been endorsed by President Clinton and should be adopted by Texas legislators.
There is an added incentive to adopt the new limit: under the proposal, states that reject the 0.08 percent or lower limit would face a loss of federal highway funds.
Texas currently has a drunk-driving standard of 0.10 percent. In September, the state passed a "zero tolerance" law on blood alcohol content for drivers under age 21.
But further attempts by Texas lawmakers to prevent the mixing of alcohol and driving have faced opposition. Moves to tighten legal blood-alcohol levels have faced repeated rejection from restaurant and alcohol-beverage lobbies in particular. One of their concerns has been that a tightening of standards is an attempt to legislate the amount of alcohol that individuals are allowed to drink.
That argument misses the mark.
Motorists have the right to assume that traveling on Texas highways will not be hazardous to their health. DWI laws don't interfere with an individual's right to drink, they simply demand that drinkers not drive while consuming alcohol.
Tighter blood-alcohol limits translates into less traffic accidents, which reduces the number of potential lawsuits, injury claims and health care costs. That makes reducing the number of drunk driving-related alcohol deaths and injuries a good thing for Texas businesses as well -- including restaurants and drinking establishments.
If moving from 0.10 to 0.08 can do all that, it's a small price for Texans to pay.