The Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved and sent to the Senate the bill that reforms the Traffic Law to reduce from 0.5 to 0 milligrams the amount of alcohol per liter of blood that can be tolerated for driving.

The Argentine Chamber of Deputies approved and sent to the Senate the bill that reforms the Traffic Law to reduce from 0.5 to 0 milligrams the amount of alcohol per liter of blood that can be tolerated for driving.

At the beginning of the treatment of the bill, the president of the Transportation Committee, Jorge Rizzotti, said: “This law is the result of the effort made by those who are in the balconies, the mobilization, and commitment of many NGOs that are with us today”.

“This law, which is far from being a law against alcohol consumption, is not about prohibiting drinking but about not driving when alcohol has been consumed,” said Jorge Rizzotti.

“All therapeutic and control approaches to substance use in users, which have a rights perspective, agree that substance use is not compatible with driving vehicles,” added Jorge Rizzotti.

“Family members and organizations told their tragic stories of preventable deaths as a result of drunk driving. There are too many families who have lost loved ones to drunk drivers,” remarked Rizzotti.

The bill was approved with 195 affirmative votes, 19 against, and four abstentions. Most of the negative votes came from deputies from provinces with winemaking activity.