New Mexico's DWI epidemic is a tough foe.

Last month, reminders once again of what a scourge drunken driving has been — and continues to be — in our state.

First, a tale of a driver so drunk he accidentally ran over his own legs getting out of his truck. He had just stopped after leading State Police officer Grace Romero on a crazy chase down Interstate 25 and then toward Cochití Lake on N.M. 16. The driver put the truck in park, (or so he thought). Instead, it was in reverse, rolled and hit the man, who had fallen getting out of the cab.

The details from that pursuit paint a picture of near-tragedy: The driver swerving into oncoming traffic, nearly hitting a couple returning from church. Calls from the Drunk Buster hot line (#394 on your cell phone) filtering in. Officer Romero pursuing (and the accused driver so drunk that he didn't realize he was being chased.) She even called for an ambulance, she was so certain that a crash was imminent.

In the truck — after she jumped in to stop its roll — Romero found a urine-soaked front seat and a two-thirds empty 1.75-liter bottle of vodka.

The man, Roy Travis Aguilar, was taken to the hospital. Moving the combative prisoner from ambulance to treatment took six officers. This story, despite the close calls, has as happy an ending as is possible when drinking mixes with driving. No innocent people were injured by his wild ride.

A second tale, a tragedy from start to finish:

Early on the Wednesday morning before Thanksgiving, a prominent citizen, a lawyer, a former Don Diego de Vargas, drove along Guadalupe Street, where he was seen by witnesses zipping along without lights in his BMW.

Driver Carlos Fierro is accused of hitting a 46-year-old man walking across Guadalupe Street — then fleeing the scene. His passenger? A State Police officer. Police now know alcohol was involved — Fierro and his passenger smelled of alcohol, staggered and slurred their speech when caught. It turns out that Fierro's blood-alcohol level was .21 percent. He was seriously drunk.

The pedestrian, William Tenorio, died later that day, his grief-stricken family by his bed.

Death, loss, suspicion of drinking while driving — an all too-familiar story in Northern New Mexico. As Tenorio's family mourns the loss of a father of three and beloved son and brother, the rest of the community has its own burden to bear.

We have the responsibility of continuing the fight against drinking and driving so that drunks can no longer terrorize the innocent, so that no more families are mourning on Thanksgiving, and no more children lose a parent.

Even as we mourn, though, we should acknowledge what is working to stop drinking and driving.

This year, alcohol-related fatalities are down 25 percent. In both incidents last week, citizens called police, taking descriptions of the vehicles involved and doing their best to bring errant drivers to justice.

Last summer, New Mexico ran its "100 days and nights of summer" campaign, sending cops out all over the state to make the road safer. The results are impressive. There were some 232 checkpoints, 714 saturation patrols and 2,200 DWI arrests during the campaign. Not coincidentally, traffic fatalities in New Mexico appear to have declined by 15 percent in June, July and August, compared to the same months in 2006.

What progress there is, however, has come too late for William Tenorio and all those damaged or killed in suspect crashes this year. His senseless death reminds us all that so much more work remains.