Florida isn't the only state trying to stay ahead of drunken drivers.

As drivers figure ways to outsmart the law, lawmakers have turned to smarter laws, some successful, others not.

Here's a look at some of the problems Florida faces and some of the possible solutions attempted in other states.

PROBLEM: Sobriety test refusals.

Of the 55,705 Florida drivers charged with driving under the influence last year, 21,130 refused breath, blood or urine tests. The lack of evidence weakens court cases.

SOLUTION: The Legislature could criminalize refusals, imposing fines or jail time on those who violate the law.

Criminal refusal laws are on the books in Alaska, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Vermont. In Alaska, Nebraska and Vermont, the penalty for refusing is the same as the penalty for driving drunk.

PROBLEM:Repeat offenders.

In a survey done four years ago, 47,391 Florida drivers had three or more DUI arrests, and 3,284 had six or more. Repeat offenders have a higher than average risk of getting into a crash that kills someone.

SOLUTIONS:

-- In a recent University of Maryland study, ignition interlock devices reduced re-arrest rates on multiple offenders. Judges seldom take advantage of Florida's interlock law.

-- New York City, acting on a local ordinance, seizes the cars of drunken drivers, frequently first offenders. If convicted, drivers lose their cars. The program began in February. In the first three months, the city seized 405 vehicles.

-- Arizona has a mandatory vehicle forfeiture law for third DUI offenses, or for a DUI with a child in the car.

-- Maine, like most states, presumes drivers are impaired if their blood alcohol level is .08. But after a first conviction, the state tolerates no alcohol whatsoever in drivers.

-- Mothers Against Drunk Driving wants Florida's Legislature to turn third DUI convictions into felonies, and increase penalties across the board. Currently, fourth DUIs are felonies.

PROBLEM: Low interlock use.

Florida law permits the ignition interlock, but the state lacks an infrastructure for such a program. Interlock providers don't open shops because judges rarely order the device.

SOLUTIONS: Some state legislative bodies have made the interlock mandatory.

-- Colorado requires the interlock even for first offenders.

-- After July 1, it will be mandatory in North Carolina for second offenders, and for first offenders with blood-alcohol levels at .16 or above.

-- Oregon requires installation of an interlock prior to issuing a hardship license. The state requires six months of interlock use after license reinstatement, as does Georgia.

-- Texas law requires judges to order the interlock for repeat offenders.

-- Michigan law requires that all DUI offenders obtain an interlock as a condition of license reinstatement, initially for one year.

PROBLEM: Suspended drivers.

Suspended drunken drivers repeatedly ignore orders to stay off the road.

SOLUTIONS:

-- A Florida law that takes effect Jan. 1 allows police to confiscate the vehicles of drunken drivers if they're driving on licenses suspended for DUI. If judges grant forfeiture, police can sell the vehicle.

Impoundment and forfeiture laws are increasingly common, but in practice, rarely applied, experts say, in part because judges hesitate to punish innocent family members.

-- Arkansas impounds license plates for 90 days if the license suspension was based on a DUI conviction. Ohio impounds the license plate for first or second offenses. On the third offense, the state may take the vehicle. Florida already uses bounty hunters to seize the plates of uninsured drivers in five counties, including Hillsborough.

-- Operation Roundup. A special Florida Highway Patrol unit once kept known violators under surveillance. The patrol, with 150 vacancies, now lacks the manpower.

-- Sting operations. Suspended drivers get letters offering something free, such as football or concert tickets. If they drive to collect, they're arrested.

-- Zebra stripes. An Oregon pilot program, which drew mixed reviews, singled out suspect vehicles by having police affix zebra stripes to the license plates of suspended drivers, giving law enforcement cause to stop the car. If a driver removed the stripes, the license renewal sticker came with it.

-- Hot sheets. Licensing agencies notify local police of recently suspended drivers. Some states follow that up with a letter to drivers, telling them police know they're not supposed to drive.

PROBLEM: Strained enforcement.

Police DUI checkpoints steal time from other duties, and veteran drunken drivers may disguise their impairment.

SOLUTION: Passive alcohol sensors, $600 units disguised as flashlights, quickly sample the air around a driver's face, alerting police to do further tests.

``They're extremely helpful,'' says Sgt. Tom Mester of the De Kalb County Police Department in Georgia, where members of a special patrol all use the device.

``They allow us to not have to get so close to the people. A lot of times, it's hard to detect alcohol, especially certain types.''

PROBLEM: Poor reporting.

Florida checks the blood-alcohol of 17 percent of surviving drivers from fatal crashes, the federal government says.

As a result, impaired drivers may go unpunished, and statistics on alcohol-related fatalities are unreliable.

SOLUTION: Georgia law requires blood tests of all drivers in serious or fatal crashes.

PROBLEM: Hit-and-run crashes.

Drivers crash, then abandon their victims, sometimes to avoid drunken driving charges or charges of driving on bad licenses. If police catch them, it may be too late to prove they were drunk.

Under Florida's penal code, fleeing drivers aren't punished to the extent that drunken drivers are punished.

SOLUTION: Other states offer no clear answers. But judges and prosecutors suggest stiffer penalties or minimum mandatory sentences for leaving the scene. Others suggest a mandatory fine to be paid to the state victim's compensation fund.

PROBLEM: Loopholes.

Florida's drunken-driving efforts don't always fit well together. The Legislature tries a fix, and a problem pops up elsewhere.

SOLUTION: A DUI czar and statewide program.

In 1982, 47 percent of crash deaths in Florida and New York were chalked up to alcohol.

By 1998, numbers had dropped - Florida, to 33 percent; New York, to 24 percent.

New York has a network of state and county ``STOP-DWI'' coordinators. On the local level, they coordinate the activities of police, prosecutors and treatment programs.

Drunken drivers pay their way, because the state returns fines to the local programs.

Experts point to New York as a model for a systemwide approach to controlling drunken drivers.