National effort targets drunken drivers: NHTSA sponsors mass crackdown.

Byline: Justin Hyde

Aug. 17--Federal and state traffic safety officials started a nationwide crackdown on drunken driving Wednesday, saying previous efforts had not done enough to reduce deaths from impaired drivers. Drunken drivers accounted for some 13,000 deaths in traffic accidents last year. The crackdown, however, may face resistance from a growing industry devoted to defending people arrested on drunken driving charges. These groups contend overzealous police forces inflated the problem out of proportion, trampling rights in the process. The new effort, sponsored by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, involves 11,000 law enforcement …