THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Saturday, December 3, 1994             TAG: 9412030264
SECTION: LOCAL                    PAGE: B3   EDITION: NORTH CAROLINA 
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 
DATELINE: RALEIGH                            LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

LAWS AND CAMPAIGNS CUT DEATHS RELATED TO DRUNKEN DRIVING

Deaths from drunken driving accidents have dropped by nearly one-third over the last 12 years as states raised their drinking ages and grassroots campaigns raised awareness of the problem.

North Carolina showed the fourth-greatest decline in the nation in the number of drunken driving-related deaths, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The number of deaths in the state was down 23.1 percent. Only South Carolina, with a 31 percent reduction; Maryland, with a 26.2 percent drop; and Connecticut, with a 24.5 percent decline, fared better.

``These numbers are good news, but there's still a lot of work left to be done,'' said Joe Parker, director of the North Carolina's ``Booze It & Lose It'' campaign. ``Twelve thousand people were injured in alcohol-related crashes in North Carolina last year, and 469 were killed. That's still way too many.''

Highway safety advocates attributed the decrease to an especially aggressive campaign in North Carolina to crack down on drunken driving and to raise awareness of the problem.

Like other states, North Carolina raised its drinking age from 18 to 21 in the 1980s amid threats by Washington to withhold federal highway money unless they did so.

The state also lowered the legal limit for intoxication to a blood-alcohol level of 0.08 percent. The limit in 45 other states is 0.10 percent.

North Carolina also has one of the highest drunken driving arrest rates in the nation and boasts more chapters of Mothers Against Drunk Driving than any other state, authorities said.

``We're very happy to hear about this decrease, but that doesn't mean we don't have a long battle ahead of us,'' said Kim Baker, state president of MADD, which has 34 local groups in North Carolina. ``We've only chipped away at the problem.''

Nationally, 17,461 people were killed last year in alcohol-related traffic accidents, down 31 percent from 25,165 in 1982.

In 1982, alcohol accounted for 57.3 percent of traffic deaths. By 1993, that had declined to 43.5 percent, said the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which collected the data.

The CDC report urged states to continue to adopt tough laws and harsher penalties for repeat offenders.

KEYWORDS: DUI DRUNKEN DRIVING DEATH RATES STATISTICS by CNB