The report calls for stricter enforcement by police and prosecutors, tougher child-endangerment laws, and enhanced training and public awareness for judges, attorneys, law-enforcement, family-services, and other officials. "Driving intoxicated with kids in the car is a form of child abuse pure and simple," said MADD National President Wendy Hamilton. "It must not be tolerated."

A recent Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) study found that two out of three children killed in alcohol-related crashes were riding in a vehicle being driven by a person who had been drinking.

According to the CDC report, between 1997 and 2002 a total of 2,335 children died in car crashes involving drunken drivers. Of the children killed, 68 percent were riding in a car with a driver who had been drinking.

The CDC report was published in the Feb. 6, 2004 issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

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