MOSCOW, July 2 (RAPSI) - The State Duma on Tuesday adopted in the second reading an amendment introducing the notion of minimum blood alcohol content (BAC) as a legal measure to determine a driver's state of intoxication.

The amendment is designed to protect sober drivers from penalties if a breathalyzer shows a minor level of baseline BAC where no alcohol has been consumed. Under the amendment, intoxication begins at the BAC threshold of 0.16 milligram per liter of exhaled air, or 0.35 gram per liter of blood.

For drugs, the permitted level is to be determined by the government.

Another amendment which the lower house has adopted sets out punishment for driving in a state of intoxication: a fine of 30,000 rubles ($913) and the suspension of their driving license for 18 to 24 months.

During a meeting on traffic safety in October 2012, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said that alcohol intoxication should be a condition which aggravates criminal and administrative liability for traffic accidents.

The need to toughen the punishment for drunk driving arose after an inebriated driver rammed into a bus stop in Moscow, killing seven people, including five orphans and their minders.