DRUNK-DRIVING DEATHS ROSE 4 PERCENT IN 1995
By: Mercury News Wire Services
Highway-safety experts say myriad factors could have contributed to
the first nationwide increase in drunken-driving deaths in a decade,
including public complacency, an increase in the number of young drivers
and higher speed limits. The 1995 toll of 17,274 alcohol-related traffic
deaths was a 4 percent increase over 1994 figures, according to the
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Traffic deaths also
increased last year, to 41,798 from 40,716 in 1994. Drunken-driving
deaths had been steadily decreasing since 1986.
SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS