The Missouri drunk driving legislation has focused on increasing the certainty of detection and punishment rather than on increasing penalties. This includes an effort to identify repeat offenders and remove them from the roads. A study to track the laws' effectiveness involved selecting a representative sample of persons arrested for drunk driving in 1985 and then sending researchers to each police department, prosecutor's office, and court to review the records for each case and obtain relevant information. The tracking study indicates that detection of the drunk driver has been significantly more effective under the legislation, but there are no significant deterrent effects. The limited data available from other States suggests their "get tough" laws have been equally ineffective. Drunk driving is likely to be reduced only when discretion in administering the laws is reduced and when a high percentage of the public becomes committed to the principle of not driving after drinking. 182 footnotes.