Changes in the way Pennsylvania enforces its drunken driving laws swept throughout the state yesterday.

The changes come as part of Pennsylvania's new legislation that lowers the legal blood alcohol content (BAC) from .10 to .08 percent to determine if a driver is drunk.

The penalties place more emphasis on drivers' BAC level and whether or not the person in question is a repeat offender.

Reforming the DUI system is a good move by the Pennsylvania legislation. Drunken driving is a prominent problem that is faced often by law enforcement officials.

This is especially true in State College, where nearly 600 arrests for DUI were recorded locally in 2003. State College is not your classic urban environment that extends over a large number of miles.

Everyone must understand that the new measures will not do much to change the number of DUI arrests that occur in the State College area, according to officials from the State College Police Department and Penn State University Police.

But the presence of these new restrictions can lead to future solutions.

Members of the community can now build on the new restrictions to aid in reducing DUI occurrences.

Local drinking establishments could consider posting informational charts that detail the number of drinks per hour a person of a certain weight can consume before he or she reaches a legally intoxicated level. Or local businesses could post the telephone numbers of area taxi services.

Better yet, local bars may want to look into offering programs that offer options to designated drivers, such as free non-alcoholic drinks or not charging them cover.

The responsibility of reducing DUI arrests in the area does not fall squarely on the shoulders of local drinking establishments, but they can do their part to offer assistance.

Finally, if you go out to the bar with a group and drive, be responsible and have a designated driver. It's that simple.

The reality of drunken driving and the lives it can destroy hasn't been recently felt in the State College area -- and thankfully so. But just because we have yet to experience a horrific car wreck because of DUI does not mean the community cannot understand the dangers and strive to avoid them.