According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, Texas led the country last year in the number of drunken driving fatalities with 1,354 drunken driving deaths last year (up from 34 in 2005).

Texas tied Arizona and Kansas for the largest increase in the number of fatalities while Utah, Kansas, and Iowa had the largest percentage increase.

According to the Department of Transportation, there were 13,470 deaths nationwide involving drivers or motorcycle operators with blood-alcohol levels of .08 or higher last year, the legal limit for adults in the United States. That was a slight drop from the 13,582 fatalities the year before.

Twenty-two states had more drunken driving fatalities than in the previous year while the numbers fell in 28 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

Florida saw the largest drop in the number of drunken driving deaths, down 147 from its 2005 total of 1,106.

Federal transportation officials announced the statistics as they unveiled an $11 million nationwide advertising campaign against drunk driving, under the slogan “Drunk Driving. Over the Limit. Under Arrest.” They also announced plans to launch a national law enforcement crackdown.

According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, 97 percent of Americans view drunk driving as a threat to their families and themselves.

Some of the worst accidents I have seen or heard of involve drunk drivers and it is unbelievable that over 13,000 people have to pay the ultimate price for another person’s poor decisions.