In 1980, 28,000 people were killed in alcohol-related crashes. But the past 20 years have seen a sea change in attitudes toward drinking and driving. Drunken-driving deaths dropped to a record low in 1999, when “only” 15,786 people died. Encouraged by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and other organizations, many states and the federal government have passed tough anti-drunken-driving legislation. Nonetheless, drinking and driving remains a serious national problem, and experts worry that the progress in reducing drunken driving has slowed. While safety advocates say the legal threshold for drunken driving should be lowered to a .08 percent blood-alcohol concentration, the alcoholic-beverage industry says the stricter standard would penalize responsible social drinkers.
 |
 |
CQ Researcher Drunken Driving v.10-34 Bio(s)
K Koch, CQ Press Kathy Koch, CQ Researcher's assistant managing editor, previously served as a Researcher staff writer covering education and social issues. She also has covered environmental legislation for CQ Weekly, reported for newspapers in South Florida and freelanced in Asia and Africa for several U.S. newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today. She graduated in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.K Koch, The CQ Researcher Kathy Koch, CQ Researcher's assistant managing editor, previously served as a Researcher staff writer covering education and social issues. She also has covered environmental legislation for CQ Weekly, reported for newspapers in South Florida and freelanced in Asia and Africa for several U.S. newspapers, including The Christian Science Monitor and USA Today. She graduated in journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. |