The problem I have with this bill is that I doubt it will make any difference. According to a story in Monday’s Tribune during 2002, “six children died in accidents caused by drunk drivers in 2002. At the same time, 41 children under 19 years old died in car accidents because they were not wearing seat belts.” If we truly care about the children, as Love says we should, shouldn’t we be more concerned about seat belt use? More problematic for Love’s argument, would any of the six children that died during 2002 in drunk driving accidents be alive if the legal blood alcohol limit was 0.05? If not, are there other things that could have prevented their deaths?

By way of full disclosure, I don’t drink, but I don’t have a problem with people who do. And I believe that penalties for drunk driving should be severe. But Love’s bill looks like a solution in search of a problem.