State gets C minus in effort to fight DUI

Benjamin Grove

Tuesday, Nov. 23, 1999 | 10:34 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nevada deserves a C minus for its effort to combat drunken driving, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). The national activist group released its Rating the States 2000 Report Card at a press conference today in anticipation of the heavily traveled Thanksgiving holiday.

Nevada ranked toward the bottom compared with other states. Six other states -- Alaska, Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Wyoming, plus the District of Columbia -- also received a C minus. Only three states scored lower: Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota received the lowest grade of D plus. Overall, the United States received a C plus. California received the top grade, an A.

MADD gave letter grades in 10 categories, including political leadership, law enforcement and fatality trends. Nevada received low grades for:

The report also calls for Nevada to expand public education programs and implement stricter laws on selling alcohol to minors.

Nevada was given kudos for having open container laws and mandatory blood alcohol content tests in fatal or injury crashes, conducting sobriety checkpoints and promptly suspending licenses of offenders who fail blood-alcohol tests.

The report said 177 of 361 traffic deaths, or 49 percent, in Nevada in 1998 were alcohol-related. Only Texas, with 50.1 percent, and the District of Columbia, with 50.8 percent, had higher rates.

Nevada's grades were:

Governor leadership: D; legislature leadership: C minus; statistics and records: B plus; law enforcement: C; administrative measures/criminal sanctions: B plus; regulatory control/availability: D minus; youth legislation, prevention and education: D minus; victim issues: B minus; laws: C; fatality trends: C.