Science panel backs lower drunken driving threshold

WASHINGTON (AP) - A prestigious scientific panel is recommending states significantly lower their drunken driving threshold. It says 10,000 alcohol-impaired driving deaths a year are "entirely preventable."

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine is throwing its weight behind lowering the blood-alcohol concentration threshold from 0.08 to 0.05 in a government-commissioned report.

All states have 0.08 thresholds. A Utah law passed last year that lowers the state's threshold to 0.05 doesn't go into effect until Dec. 30.

The report also recommends states significantly increase their alcohol taxes and make alcohol less conveniently available, including reducing the hours and days alcohol is sold in stores, bars and restaurants. It also calls for cracking down on sales to people under 21 or who are already intoxicated to discourage binge drinking.