DWI LAWS ADD TO CHILD SAFETY

ATLANTA (AP) Whether in a car, walking or riding a bike, the rate at
which children under age 15 were killed by drunken drivers has fallen over
the past decade, in part because of stricter laws, the government said
Thursday.

Alcoholrelated car crashes caused 0.70 deaths per 100,000 children last
year, down 26 percent from a rate of 0.95 deaths for every 100,000 children
in 1985, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The rate of children killed by drunken drivers while they were walking fell
51 percent, from 0.39 in 1985 to 0.19 in 1996.

There was also a 63 percent decline in bicyclists ages 5 to 14 killed by
drunken drivers, from 0.24 per 100,000 children in 1985 to 0.09 last year.

All told, drunken drivers killed 8,344 children over the 12 year period,
the figures showed.

The CDC credits some of the decline to laws that crack down on drunken
drivers. Thirtythree states now have laws that make illegal a
bloodalcohol content of 0.10 percent, and 15 states have lowered it to 0.08.

Also, 21 states have laws that make it a separate offense for drunken
drivers to have children in their cars.