More Legislation Needed to Curb Drunk Driving?

Rep. Steve Israel, D-Huntington, will stand in Woodbury Monday with officers from Nassau County Police Department’s Second Precinct and members of Mothers Against Drunk Driving Long Island to call for bipartisan legislation to be passed that would authorize unused federal highway safety funds to be used toward a federal program aimed at curbing drunk drivers from getting behind the wheel. 

Details of the plan have not been released. 

According to Rep. Israel, a recent string of fatal crashes on Long Island have been caused by drivers with blood alcohol levels well above the legal limit.

However, national drunk driving statistics show a sharp decline in drunk driving fatalities during the past two decades.

Between 1991 and 2010, the rate of drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 population has decreased 48 percent nationally, and 63 percent among those under 21, according to Century Council statistics.

"These statistics and others are positive indicators of the gains being made to fight drunk driving," according to the Century Council report.

Question: What are your thoughts regarding Rep. Israel's national call to curb drunk driving after a recent rash of Long Island incidents? Tell us in the comments section.