Should DUI Alcohol Limit Be Lowered to .05 Percent?

The National Transportation Safety Board recommends reducing the limit. Some say it would save lives. Others say it's unreasonable.

One drink could be the standard for drunken driving – at least for some people if the National Transporation Safety Board has its way. On Tuesday, the NTSB recommended states lower the blood-alcohol threshold for driving under the influence from 0.08 percent to 0.05 percent. What do you think? Is the proposal reasonable? About 10,000 deaths a year are related to drunken driving. The NTSB says the lower limit would save 500 to 800 lives a year. Officials at the American Beverage Institute called the proposal "ludicrous." It said the average woman could reach the 0.05 percent limit by having one drink. Internationally, only a handful of countries, including Canada, the United States and England, have a BAC limit of .08 while most of the …

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Crime News

Drunken Driver Waved When Cop Tried to Pull Him Over, Police Say

Charles Zebley didn't stop his car when officer activated lights and sirens; he just waved and kept on driving for another 1.6 miles, according to court papers.

A Freemansburg police officer had reason to believe the driver of a green Chrysler convertible was drunk when the car crossed double-yellow center lines and drove up a steep grassy embankment next to a parking lot. Also, the officer later found out the driver had a crushed can of Bud Light in his right shirt pocket, court records say. But instead of pulling over after the officer activated his patrol car’s emergency lights, siren and even air horn, all the driver did was wave at the officer, the records say. The accused, Charles J. Zebley IV, 51, of Monroe County, waved when borough Patrolman Jonathan Itterly activated his car’s emergency lights near Pembroke Road. But neither lights nor siren could stop Zebley, who kept waving. Zebley, …

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Former Pa. Rep. Joe Brennan Sentenced To 90 Days in Prison

Former Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Brennan pleads guilty to DUI and simple assault but gets probation for simple assault.

A Lehigh County judge sentenced former State Representative Joe Brennan to a mandatory 90 days in prison Thursday after he pleaded guilty to a charge of driving under the influence of alchohol. Judge Maria Dantos also sentenced Brennan to 18 months' probation for simple assault stemming from the same incident when he struck his wife on Aug. 15 at their Fountain Hill home before driving away drunk. His blood-alcohol content measured 0.22 percent. The state's legal limit is 0.08 percent. Brennan, who must also pay a $1,500 fine, will begin serving his sentence Monday in Lehigh County Prison. Assistant District Attorney Stephen VanNatten said Brennan's wife, who did not attend the sentencing, did not want her husband to serve time in prison…

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Driver Accused of Endangering Police, Firefighters

Motorist charged with drunken driving and reckless driving after he allegedly ignored officers' directions and drove over downed power lines on Rt. 412 near where police and firefighers were standing.

A man whose hometown is often associated with the word “horror” is accused of driving drunk, ignoring police warnings and driving his Suburban vehicle over downed power lines on Route 412 just north of Interstate 78 in Bethlehem, endangering nearby police and firefighters. Anthony Czyrski, 43, of Amityville, N.Y., -- court records say he was born in Bethlehem -- took a preliminary breath test during Friday’s incident that showed an alcohol level of 0.16 percent – twice the legal limit of 0.08 percent. The records listed the results of a blood-alcohol test as “pending.” A criminal complaint filed by Bethlehem police Officer Matthew Laxton provides the following details: --Police were investigating an unrelated crash around 9:25 p.m. Friday …

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Police: Concrete Block Stops Drunk Driver

Stephen Zappas of Bethlehem Township had a BAC of .23 percent when he tried to leave the Trains & Lanes Hobbies parking lot, but his vehicle got hung up on a concrete block.

If it weren't for a simple, concrete block, who knows what could have happened? Stephen Zappas, 57, of the 4000 block of Juniper Lane in Bethlehem Township, had a blood-alcohol content of .23 percent when he managed to get his car stuck on a concrete block in the parking lot of Trains & Lanes Hobbies, according to Colonial Regional Police. The legal limit for motorists in Pennsylvania is .08 percent. Police were called to Trains & Lanes Hobbies in Lower Nazareth Township -- the store sells items like remote-control planes, boats and cars, trains and train tracks -- on Jan. 31 around 4:36 p.m. for a report of an intoxicated male who had gotten his car stuck. Several witnesses reported seeing the man -- later identified as Zappas -- attempt …

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State Rep Requests Probation for DUI

Formally arraigned, Joseph Brennan requests acceptance into ARD program.

State Rep. Joseph Brennan applied for a first-time offenders program during his formal arraignment on drunk driving charges in Northampton County Court, according to this report in The Morning Call. Brennan, a 47-year-old Democrat who lives in Fountain Hill, requested entrance into the Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition program today. If the request is granted and Brennan completes it, the record of his arrest would be expunged. Brennan was arrested on June 22 after eyewitnesses at the Wawa on E. Broad Street and Stefko Boulevard saw him fall and hit his head in the parking lot, according to police. After he was helped to his feet, Brennan got back into his car and drove to his South Bethlehem office, police said. One of the …

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State Rep. Brennan Waives DUI Hearing

Police: Legislator's blood alcohol level was .30, more than three times the legal limit.

State Rep. Joseph Brennan waived a preliminary hearing today on drunk driving charges, according to this report on Lehigh Valley Live. At the time of his June 22 arrest, his blood alcohol level was .30, more than three times the state’s legal limit for driving, according to court records cited in the news report. The Bethlehem Democrat was arrested by city police after eyewitnesses at the Wawa on E. Broad Street and Stefko Boulevard saw him fall and hit his head in the parking lot, according to police. After he was helped to his feet, Brennan got back into his car and drove to his South Bethlehem office, police said. One of the eyewitnesses followed him and called police. Joseph Yanuzzi, the attorney representing Brennan, told The Morning …

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Police: Train Hit Car Driven by Drunk Driver

Bethlehem man injured, facing DUI charges.

A Bethlehem man is suspected of driving under the influence of alcohol after he drove his car onto train tracks on the 200 block of Riverside Drive and had his car struck by a slow moving train early Sunday morning, police said. David Colon, 23, of 3048 Linden St., is being treated for injuries at St. Luke’s Hospital, Fountain Hill, following the accident at a little before 5 a.m. Sunday, said Capt. David Kravatz of the Bethlehem police.

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Woman Pushed Out of Moving Car by her Brother

Quan Taylor of Wilson charged; sister, Tasha, not seriously hurt; more from the BPD this weekend.

A Wilson man was arrested on multiple charges after he allegedly pushed his sister out of a moving car she was driving on W. Broad Street in Bethlehem early Saturday morning, city police said. The sister, Tasha Taylor, 22, of Allentown, was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in Fountain Hill to be treated for minor injuries, police said. Quan Taylor, 24, of 1935 Fairview Ave., Wilson, was charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, reckless endangerment and driving without a license. The dispute started as the siblings left a bar and argued over who would drive home, said Bethlehem Police Det. Sgt. Jeremy Alleshouse. The argument continued in the car, until Quan Taylor managed to push Tasha Taylor out of the car at Eighth Avenue and W. …

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