Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has announced the organization is “cautiously optimistic” about the news from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)that the number of alcohol-related traffic fatalities decreased by 2.1% from 2003 to 2004.
That percentage change reflects a drop from 17,013 deaths in 2003 to 16,654 in 2004. This is still a shameful number of lives lost to drunk driving. Lowering the legal Blood Alcohol Concentration rate in several states may have contributed to the lower number of fatalities, but increased enforcement of DWI laws and seat belt usage laws would lower the fatality number even more.
