More evidence of the profound change in public attitudes toward drunken driving was found on Halloween evening when Lincoln police conducted a sobriety checkpoint.

Of the 131 drivers stopped by Lincoln police, just three were arrested for driving while intoxicated. "It was a positive message for us," Sgt. Michon Morrow said.

Police said that many of the vehicles had designated drivers ferrying intoxicated passengers. A number of taxis with intoxicated passengers also came through the checkpoint.

The decline in public acceptance of drunken driving is demonstrated by other statistics. In 1976, the death rate for alcohol-related crashes in Nebraska was 3.3 per million miles traveled. In 2008, the rate was 1.1.

Last year the number of alcohol-related fatalities in the state dropped to 67, down 29 percent from the year before. Nationally the decline was 9.7 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The number of drunken driving fatalities dropped to 11,773, the lowest figure since the agency began keeping records in 1982.

There's a good chance that Nebraska might experience further declines in drunken driving. A new law went into effect this year that requires that everyone convicted of drunken driving pay to lease and use an ignition interlock device.

The equipment prevents engines from starting until the driver blows into a Breathalyzer to prove that they're sober. Already the number of devices installed in the state is more than double the previous year.

In New Mexico, the first state to enact a mandatory interlock law, drunken driving fatalities have dropped 35 percent.

A few decades ago, people used to laugh at drunken driving. Today there is still an occasional funny story, but the humor has taken a turn for the better.

For example, a few days ago a Wisconsin woman called people on her cell phone to report a drunken driver. The dispatcher asked her if she was following the car. "No, I am them," the woman said, and explained, "I don't want to hurt anyone. I'm drunk."

Although it certainly would have been preferable if the woman had decided not to get behind the wheel in the first place, the story nonetheless shows that the message against drunken driving is getting through.

Great credit is due to Mothers Against Drunk Driving and other advocacy groups for being a driving force behind the long process of changing society's attitude toward drunken driving.

And Lincoln residents should congratulate themselves for taking to heart the admonition against drunken driving. There were plenty of werewolves howling at the moon on Halloween, but they weren't behind the wheel.