Hawaii lawmakers are considering lowering the state’s legal blood alcohol limit for drivers — a shift supporters say could save lives, but critics argue would do little to stop impaired drivers from driving.
Senate Bill 2463, which recently crossed over to the House, would redefine “under the influence” in state law by lowering the threshold of blood alcohol concentration for drivers from 0.08 to 0.05. If approved, Hawaii would become just the second state, after Utah, to adopt a stricter limit than the national standard. A similar Senate bill also crossed over into the House but failed to become law in 2024.
While state transportation officials and traffic safety advocates say the proposal could reduce alcohol-related crashes, reactions among the public are mixed.
At Murphy’s Bar and Grill in downtown Honolulu on Tuesday, where customers packed in for a St. Patrick’s Day lunch and the sound of clinking glasses filled the room, patrons expressed skepticism that lowering the legal blood alcohol limit would achieve its stated goal.
The consensus among Murphy’s customers who spoke to the Honolulu Star-Advertiser was that lowering the legal threshold would make little difference in reducing impaired driving crashes. Several believe crashes typically involve highly impaired drivers, not those who consumed one drink or two.
Kari Carolan, who stood with a beer at the bar among other Murphy’s St. Patrick’s Day customers, said, “The people who are going to be driving over the 0.08 are going to be doing it regardless.”
Carolan, a 50-year-old program manager, believes lowering the limit would likely have little effect on those who already drive impaired.
“People are going to do what people are going to do, you know?” she said.
Carolan also believes that lowering the threshold will not help reduce the number of drunken driving fatalities.
Other patrons, like houshawna Laanrui-Wilcox, a Chinatown resident, agreed.
“Once you consume, you should stay at home,” she said.
Jamelia Jones — a 32-year-old overnight grocery stocker from Kaneohe — doesn’t drink but said responsibility matters more than the legal limit.
“I think the current law is fine,” she said.
Jones believes individuals should understand their own limits rather than rely on stricter laws.
“One drink could affect someone a lot differently than someone else,” Jones said, “so I think it’s just (that) people need to be responsible.”
Colby Sims, a 39-year-old merchant mariner from Kapolei, who was drinking beers with his friends at Murphy’s, said he usually takes Ubers to prevent drinking and driving.
“I feel like you should be able to drink a little bit and drive,” Sims said.
Rather than lower the threshold, Sims said the state should “be more focused on not arresting sober drivers to make their quota … because either way the people will still get arrested with the law change.”
Tanner Young — a 23 year old from Georgia now stationed on Oahu with the Coast Guard — also works as a bouncer for bars on the weekends.
At his bar job, Young said he regularly sees drunk people but said he rarely sees them get into their vehicles to drive after leaving the bar.
“I don’t know if 0.05 is going to change anything,” Young said.
Stricter limits could raise awareness, he said, but people will continue to make their own decisions.
“At the end of the day, if you drank, just get an Uber,” Young said.
Young was not opposed to the idea of lowering the threshold, but said he does not believe it will help.
“I think even if there was a law that said nobody could drink, people would still drink,” Young said.
Don Murphy, who owns Murphy’s Bar and Grill, said the proposal may hurt his business.
“It’s not going to help business, that’s for sure,” Murphy said.
While Murphy supports preventing impaired driving, he questions whether lowering the limit will make a difference.
“I just don’t think that that’s going to be that big of a deterrent,” Murphy said.
The state Department of Transportation was among the supporters who submitted written testimony in support of SB 2643, saying the change could improve road safety and reduce alcohol-related crashes.
“Lowering the per se limit to 0.05 is supported by compelling evidence,” the department wrote.
DOT cited research that estimated an 11.1% decline in fatal alcohol-related crashed when BAC limits are reduced to 0.05 or lower.
The department also wrote that impaired driving accounts for about one-third of traffic deaths in Hawaii, averaging 34 fatalities annually from 2020 and 2024.
“It aims to separate the acts of drinking and driving to enhance road safety for all users,” DOT wrote.
Opponents, including the Office of the Public Defender, argue the measure is unnecessary and could strain the legal system.
“There is nothing to prevent the police to arrest a person … whose BAC level is under 0.08%,” the office wrote in testimony.
The Public Defender also warned that the bill could criminalize responsible drinkers and increase workloads for police and courts.
“This group of law-abiding drivers will constitute a new class of criminals under this proposed law,” the office wrote.
Murphy said the focus should be on public awareness, not just legal limits.
“They’ve got to do a better job of finding different ways to promote not drinking and driving,” he said.
