On May 14, 1988, a school bus full of children, teens and chaperones traveled down Interstate 71 to Radcliff, Kentucky, on its way home from a church outing at a Cincinnati amusement park.

But in the town of Carrollton, Kentucky, a drunk driver, heading the wrong way down the highway in a pickup truck, slammed into the bus head on. The bus burst into flames, killing 24 young people and three adults. Thirty other people were injured. The pickup driver, Larry Mahoney, was a repeat drunk-driving offender. He survived, sustaining only minor injuries. His blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was 0.24 percent -- substantially more than the legal limit in Kentucky.

In just a few terrible moments, more than 57 families were shattered, and an entire community went into shock. Some lost sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, parents and countless friends; others now had to help surviving loved ones recover from injuries and trauma.

While this story is about the infamous Kentucky Bus Crash-the worst alcohol-related traffic crash in U.S. history - it speaks to the issue of drunk driving right here in New York State.

We need to take action to prevent drunk-driving fatalities and reduce the incidence of drunk driving and its potential for destruction of lives and property. That is why I am supporting a six-point anti-drunk driving plan which includes these strong initiatives:

* Create the Class E felony of "Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated" - Creates the new crime of Aggravated DWI for drivers found to have a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.18 or higher.

* Create the Class D felony of "Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated" for second conviction - Aggravated DWI would be a Class D felony for drivers who have been convicted of one other DWI offense within the previous 10 years.

* Create the Class C felony of "Aggravated Driving While Intoxicated" for two-time repeat offenders - Aggravated DWI would be a Class C felony for drivers who have been convicted of two other DWI charges within the previous 10 years.

* Restrict plea bargaining for Aggravated DWI - Any person charged with Aggravated DWI would not be allowed to plead to anything lower than a misdemeanor DWI charge.

* Allow judges to immediately suspend driver's licenses - Any person charged with Aggravated DWI would have his or her license suspended immediately.

* Increase length of suspension for repeat offenders - Drivers convicted of any DWI charge who have had other DWI convictions within the preceding 10 years would have their licenses suspended for 30 months, rather than the current one year.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration:

* Hardcore drunk drivers (Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) of 0.15 or higher) are 385 times more likely to be involved in a fatal accident.

* Repeat drunk drivers are 7 times more likely to be killed in an accident than sober drivers.

* 478 people died in drunk-driving accidents in New York state (2002).

A BAC of 0.08 saves 1,000 lives a year nationally.