Drunk Driving Battle Gains

California has fewer drunk driving deaths per miles driven than all but a few states in the nation and has posted one of the biggest drops in the fatality rate in the last 20 years, according to a federal study released Wednesday.

Between 1982 and 2001, the rate of drunk driving deaths in California dropped 70%, from 165 fatalities per 1 million miles driven to 50 deaths, according to a new study by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Based on these statistics, California ranks among such states as Utah, Vermont, Minnesota, New Jersey and New York in claiming the lowest drunk driving fatality rates. Nationwide, the drunk driving rate has declined 62% since 1982.

The national and state-by-state data have been available previously but never compiled into a single report, NHTSA officials said.

The study was released as part of a nationwide campaign against drunk driving, billed as the longest crackdown of its kind, beginning Friday and running through Jan. 5. In California, police agencies promise to launch more sobriety checkpoints and increase enforcement on roads and freeways over the next two weeks.

“Impaired drivers represent one of our nation’s greatest threats,” NHTSA administrator Jeffrey Runge said during a news conference at the MCI Center in Washington, D.C. The event was held in the 20,000-seat stadium to demonstrate the sheer number of people killed annually by drunk drivers. Last year, 17,448 deaths were attributed to drinking and driving.

Traffic safety experts say the decline in deaths stems from a combination of factors, including strong police enforcement, tougher penalties for people who drink and drive, better automobile safety equipment and a slew of educational campaigns by such groups as Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

Key factors in the drop could be the improvement of equipment such as seat belts, airbags and car seats for children, as well as improved emergency response techniques, said Mark A.R. Kleiman, a UCLA professor of public policy and expert on substance abuse.

In the last 20 years, motorists who drink and drive have also faced tougher penalties, including losing their driving privileges, paying stiff fines and spending more time behind bars.

“All of these things work together to change society’s attitude” about drunk driving, said California Highway Patrol spokesman Steve Kohler.

MADD was launched in 1980 and has since established chapters in every state, plus offices in England and Australia.

But MADD officials, noting that the number of drunk driving deaths in California has risen slightly since 1997, worry that motorists are becoming complacent about the problem. Last year, the state had 1,569 alcohol-related traffic deaths, compared with 1,348 in 1997, a 16% increase.

“The public in general may view drunk driving as a solved problem,” said Reidel Post, who is executive director of the Orange County chapter of MADD.

The release of the NHTSA study and the drunk driving crackdown were timed for the holiday season, a period in which more than 46 million Americans are expected to travel by car, according to the Automobile Club of America.

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Times staff writer Ralph Vartabedian contributed to this report.