<P> Early laws, such as that enacted in New Jersey, required 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% . New York, for example, which had enacted a prohibition on driving while intoxicated in 1910, amended this law in 1941 to provide that it would constitute prima facie evidence of intoxication when an arrested person was found to have a BAC of . 15 percent or higher, as ascertained through a test administered within two hours of arrest . </P> <P> 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". </P> <P> 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 . </P> <P> On May 14, 2013, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended that all 50 states lower the benchmark for determining when a driver is legally drunk from 0.08 blood - alcohol content to 0.05 . The idea is part of an initiative to eliminate drunk driving, which accounts for about a third of all road deaths . In light of this push by the NTSB, and in addition to numerous media reports, many bloggers / authors have posted content addressing the Debate Surrounding Lowering the Legal Limit from 0.08% to 0.05% . </P>

When did driving under the influence became illegal