Fatal Crashes Down In Illinois 20 Years After .08 Law

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) — Illinois is marking the 20th anniversary of legislation that lowered the drunken driving limit to .08 blood-alcohol concentration.

State officials said Friday that since the law was enacted alcohol-impaired motor vehicle crash fatalities in Illinois have fallen by about 43 percent.

The year before in 1997 there were 534 people who died in crashes involving at least one driver who was at or above the .08 level. In 2015 about 300 people died in alcohol-impaired crashes in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Transportation, Illinois State Police, Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists held an event Friday at the Illinois State Fair reminding motorists to drive sober.

IDOT officials say that while there are fewer fatalities drunken driving "continues to shatter hundreds of lives each year."