D.C. Council member Muriel Bowser proposed a bill Tuesday to toughen the city’s drunk driving policy.

Under the bill, the District would lower the legal limit from .08 percent blood alcohol concentration – the nationwide limit – to .05. That new limit follows a recommendation that the National Transportation Safety Board issued last year.

The federal agency recommended the more stringent standard last May, pointing to at least 100 other countries that have lowered the legal limit. The report emphasized that any amount of alcohol can impair a person’s driving.

Bowser pointed out that since 2006, D.C. has averaged 11 deaths, 217 injuries and 417 crashes involving alcohol per year. About 30 percent of those deaths occur when a driver is below the legal limit of .08 BAC.

Bowser said she saw the bill as an opportunity for the District to “lead on the issue.”

Council member Anita Bonds threw her support behind the bill as its sole co-sponsor, the Associated Press reported.

At least one national advocacy group has already opposed the bill. Mothers Against Drunk Driving opted to not endorse the lower limit, and instead called for requiring convicted first-time drunk drivers to pass a breathalyzer test before they can start their cars. Only 20 states require the devices for drivers convicted of drunk driving.

In the last year, police arrested three individuals on campus for drunk driving. University police records did not say whether GW students were behind the wheel during those incidents.