It is time for Montana to get serious about highway safety. For too long, Montana's poor record at keeping drivers and passengers safe has brought the state the very worst kind of national attention.

In November, 2002, Mothers Against Drunk Driving gave Montana an "F" -- and this state was the only one in the nation to get one -- in its "Rating the States" project.

In 2004, the United Health Foundation found Montana's rate of motor vehicle deaths per 100 million miles driven to be the worst in the nation. The finding was part of the foundation's annual state health rankings.

Late in 2003, a National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) report showed that Montana had the nation's highest rate of alcohol-related traffic fatalities.

More recently, NHTSA devoted $5 million in each of the last two years to target 13 states with high drunken-driving fatality rates. Rates went down in 12 of the 13 states. Only in Montana did the rate of drunken-driving fatalities increase.

Montana lawmakers are once again considering important pieces of legislation that would make our highways safer.

A graduated driver license bill gives Montana's youngest, newest drivers the time and guidance they need to become safer drivers.

A seatbelt bill makes the failure to wear a seatbelt a primary offense.

A number of bills ban open containers of alcohol in vehicles.

And other measures would renew the state's commitment to placing more Highway Patrol officers on Montana roads.

The list is a familiar one. In every session in recent memory, common sense bills like these have come before legislators.

Session after session, community leaders, law enforcement officials and others have lined up to testify about economic losses and medical costs and insurance increases related to crashes. Parents and friends have told personal, tragic stories of lost lives and life-changing injuries.

Yet session after session, the laws that could make a real difference on our highways don't make it into the books.

The label of "nation's worst" embarrasses Montanans. Deadly accidents devastate families and communities. And nothing changes.

We have all the statistics and experience we need to make a compelling case for each of these important bills. These laws will make everyone safer on Montana's roads. They will save lives.

This session, it's time for Montana to get serious about highway safety.

Mike McGrath is Montana's attorney general.