By Joe Gerrety, Journal and Courier

Indiana's overall rating on a Mothers Against Drunk Driving survey of impaired- driving prevention efforts dropped slightly between 2000 and 2002, but Hoosier programs still beat the nationwide grade in six of 10 categories.

MADD, a national organization that seeks to stop drunken driving, support its victims and prevent underage drinking, this week released the results of its fifth Rating the States Survey Report since 1991.

Indiana received an overall grade of C+, down from its B- rating in 2000, but better than the nation's grade of C.

Nationwide, there were 17,448 drunken driving deaths in 2001, up from 16,572 in 1999, the last time MADD conducted its survey. The organization graded the nation with a C, down from a C+ in 1999. California ranked the highest with a B+; Montana failed.

Some Lafayette-area advocates in the fight to reduce drunken driving were surprised by Indiana's grade slip.

"I was expecting the same grade. What it shows is the need for organizations and the government to work together for things to change," said Dan Towery, a board member of Greater Lafayette MADD. Towery's 24-year-old daughter, Sarah, was killed along with two other people in a head-on crash caused by a drunken driver in March 1999 in Lafayette.

"Locally, I think law enforcement, judges and prosecutors are taking things more seriously. Arrests are up. There's a disconnect somewhere," Towery said. "You can pass all the laws you want, and people don't take personal responsibility. That's where we need the change in society."

Sean Persin, a deputy prosecutor in Tippecanoe County who handles drunken driving cases, said he expected Indiana's grade to improve, particularly because in July 2001, the state enacted a stricter 0.08 percent blood-alcohol content standard for drunken driver.

Also, last March, the Indiana Supreme Court ruled that sobriety checkpoints were permissible under the Indiana constitution, providing police with a powerful enforcement tool that is supported by MADD.

Indiana did better than the nation in six of 10 grade categories -- leadership from the governor, state law enforcement programs, underage drinking and drinking and driving control, victim issues, laws and fatality trends.

The Hoosier state was below the national grade in three categories -- leadership from the state Senate; blood-alcohol content testing, data and records; and administrative measures and criminal sanctions.

Indiana matched the national grade in state House of Representatives leadership. Indiana earned its best score (B+) in the category of leadership from the governor. Its worst score (D+) was in BAC testing, data and records.

MADD evaluated governors based on public statements, creation of drunken driving task forces, appointments to those task forces, and endorsement of specific highway traffic safety issues.

In Indiana's weakest category, MADD evaluated states based on their repository of fatal traffic crash data, BAC testing rate in fatal and serious-injury crashes, and other facets of the states' traffic records systems.

States could earn high marks in this category if they routinely tested a high number of drivers involved in serious crashes; maintained good records on OWI arrests and convictions and maintained a complete OWI tracking system; and enforced existing mandatory BAC testing laws.

Towery said Indiana has made improvements in that area, with police doing a better job of recording BACs in fatal crashes and the Bureau of Motor Vehicles doing a better job of suspending licenses when called for.

Still, he's concerned about some government policies, including an Indiana State Police policy not to publish the BAC levels of suspected drunken drivers who cause crashes.

He said some coroners, including Tippecanoe County's, don't make an effort to get and publish timely results of toxicology tests on drivers who die in traffic crashes.