City of Larely Forced to Lower B.A.C. Limit to .25%
Larely, CA – Faced with the prospect of losing federal highway funds, the city of Larely reluctantly agreed today to lower its legal BAC limit to .25%. The change is the first made to Larely’s BAC Limits since 1990, when newly elected mayor Rich Rundell increased it from .1% to .3% on his first day in office.
While the law change is being hailed by many outside of Larely as a victory, current mayor Vern Bixler disagreed. “We here in Larely have always been able to handle our liquor. A .30% from one of our citizens is the equivalent of .08% for anyone else. Hell, I’ve hired school bus drivers with higher than .30′s. It saddens me that the federal government felt the need to interfere with the manner in which we choose to run our city.”
Though all states have now adopted a .08% legal BAC limit, the city of Larely had somehow been able to hold out until now. While it is still unclear exactly how that was possible, pressure for Larely to change the law had been growing steadily since they made it on to the radar of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Drug & Alcohol Policy & Compliance.
What exactly prompted the USDOT to begin looking into Larely is still unconfirmed. However, an employee with the ODAPC who wished to remain anonymous went on record to say, “A concerned citizen from one of Larely’s neighboring cities sent us a note saying they were concerned that while the legal BAC limit of California was .08%, the legal limit in Larely was nearly quadruple that. As soon as that fact was confirmed, there was a department wide frenzy and people went straight to [U.S. Secretary of Transportation] Ray LaHood’s office and told him it had to be addressed.”
After that, it was only a matter of time before Larely’s hand was forced. The federal government controls a good percentage of Larely’s highway funding, and with an expensive bridge replacement needed on Larely Parkway next year, Larely had to give in.
Mayor Vern Bixler told reporters that it was a sad day for the citizens of Larely and that he hoped federal interference wouldn’t become a more common trend. “If they can do this, what’s next? Forcing us to pay taxes on our municipal dog track? Closing down our rub-n-tug massage parlors?”
