The first jurisdiction in the United States of America
to adopt laws against drunken driving was New York
in 1910, with California
and others following. Early laws simply prohibited driving while intoxicated, requiring proof of a state of intoxication with no specific definition of what level of inebriation qualified.
The first generally-accepted legal BAC limit was 0.15%.
In 1938, the American Medical Association created a "Committee to Study Problems of Motor Vehicle Accidents". At the same time, the National Safety Council set up a "Committee on Tests for Intoxication".
In the US, most of the laws and penalties were greatly enhanced starting in the late 1970s, and through the 1990s
, largely due to pressure from groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving
(MADD) and Students Against Destructive Decisions
(SADD) and leaders like Candy Lightner
. Significantly, zero tolerance
laws were enacted which criminalized driving a vehicle with 0.01% or 0.02% BAC for drivers under 21. This is true even in Puerto Rico, despite maintaining a legal drinking age of 18.