The advocacy group Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has released its 2011 annual national report, documenting efforts across the country to combat driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The report asserts that intoxicated driving imposes over $132 billion in costs nationwide on an annual basis.

This is the fifth year that the group has issued such a report as part of its ongoing campaign against drunk driving. The report ranks each of the states on its progress in eliminating intoxicated driving. The ratings are on a scale of 1 to 5, with the U.S. nationwide being given a 3 star rating based on an average of state ratings.

States obtaining the highest, five star rating, in the report this year are Utah, Nebraska, Kansas, Illinois, and Arizona. At the other end of the spectrum, receiving a low one star rating in the report were South Dakota, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Montana.

The ratings reflect the group's opinions as to whether each state has enacted strong laws against drunk driving, and created effective programs to combat the problem. They are not based on the number of deaths in car accidents caused by drunk driving.

Laws advocated by the group include requiring that motorists convicted of DUI use ignition lock devices on their vehicles to prevent repeat occurrences, police sobriety checkpoints on the road, and high penalties for those convicted of DUI with minors in their vehicles. The report further supports automatic driver's license revocation for convicted offenders, and disallowing motorist suspected of intoxicated driving from being able to submit to testing.

Source: Marketwatch, "MADD Releases National and State-by-State Ratings as Part of its Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving Fifth Anniversary report to the Nation," November 16, 2011.