Since 1986, the number of people arrested for driving while intoxicated has dropped dramatically, even while the number of licensed drivers was increasing. That is the conclusion reached in a report being issued today by the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics.

• Drunken driving arrests declined about 18 percent from 1986 to 1997 -- to a total of about 1.5 million.

• The rate of arrests fell from 1,124 per 100,000 licensed drivers in 1986 to 809 in 1997.

• Since older drivers are less likely to be arrested for drunken driving, the decline could be attributed partly to the aging of licensed drivers, the report speculated.

• The number of drunken drivers on parole, in jail or in prison increased from 270,000 in 1986 to 513,000 in 1997.

Source: Irvin Molotsky, "U.S. Cites Drop in Arrests for Drunken Driving," New York Times, June 14, 1999.