RATE OF KID DEATHS CAUSED BY DRUNKEN DRIVERS IS DROPPING

Whether in a car, walking or riding a bike, the rate children under age 15
were killed by drunken drivers fell 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 from 0.95 in 1985, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention said.

The rate of children killed by drunken drivers while they were walking fell
from 0.39 per 100,000 children in 1985 to 0.19 in 1996.

There was also a 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 12year period,
the figures showed.