HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaii could become the second state to lower its blood alcohol content.

For years, groups against drunk driving have been pushing to lower the blood alcohol content in Hawaii from .08 to .05.

“Nearly one in three fatalities on our roadway is due to alcohol and we can change that this year, and we’re hopeful that we can,” said Rick Collins, director of the Hawaii Alcohol Policy Alliance.

The bill has been killed year after year, but advocates are hopeful this year will be different because Governor Josh Green introduced it this year. Advocates said data is coming out from one other state that has lowered its BAC, and saw a nearly 20% decrease in fatal crashes.

“When Utah passed their .05 BAC law, the alcohol industry was really crying doom and gloom, and the last time I looked, they were just fine,” Collins said. “In fact, since they’ve passed their BAC law, the alcohol sales have gone up 30% in their state.”

Collins said the data shows it’s about prevention and not punishment to businesses.

“The hardest thing to do is to change people’s behaviors, and that’s the intent of the .05 bill,” said William Hankins, former Maui police department traffic commander.

“The worst job you can probably do is knock on someone’s door and tell them a loved one isn’t coming home, and I can tell you from my experience of doing that, those families don’t give a damn if the person’s is .055 or .255,” he added.

Testimony from the health department revealed there were 354 deaths statewide between 2012 and 2021 involving a driver with a BAC greater than .08. Additionally, 33.5% of driving deaths in Hawaii involve alcohol, which is higher than the national average of 26.3%.

“We’ve stayed stubbornly high in terms of our DUI rates, and this is a tried and true way to lower those,” Collins added.

The bill has moved through the transportation committee and will next be heard by the judiciary committee, where the bill has stalled many times before.

The transportation committee Chair Rep. Darius Kila said DUIs are too common in his area.

“The stories that came out and how one person’s actions affect thousands of people’s lives is something you cannot quantify and I think everyone who has been affected or has loss someone to the hands of someone driving under the influence, I hope this measure will be that silver bullet that really changes folks behavior,” he said.