The bills output of the S.C. General Assembly this year was low, which is a good thing. Readers should be leery of any bill not necessary to keep state government functioning for another year or necessary to correct problems that should be ignored no longer.

Legislators passed a bill in the latter category Thursday, as they were ringing down the curtain on their 2003 session. The measure, which now goes to Gov. Mark Sanford, lowers the dividing line between driving under the influence of alcohol and driving legally after drinking from 0.10 percent to 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content.

This new standard is physiologically correct, in that the lower standard more accurately reflects the effects of alcohol on human capabilities. In other states that have adopted the standard, police have found it a powerful tool to get dangerous drivers off the road.

It previously hasn't passed in South Carolina because it's politically incorrect: Congress in the 1990s made some categories of highway-aid contingent on passage of the 0.08 standard. Some S.C. legislators took umbrage that the federal government would presume to tell them what to do.

This year, House and Senate majorities, at last, saw the issue in the sweet light of reason: The federal government could yank as much as $60 million from highway accounts if an S.C. 0.08 DUI law didn't go on the books right away.

Whether legislators supported the bill for that reason, or because they understand, they did the right thing. The 0.10 standard allows way too many folks to get away with driving while not in full control of their cars. South Carolina will become a safer place to drive as a result of this bill.