WASHINGTON — Alcohol-related traffic death rates increased or held steady in 19 states, including South Carolina, between 1998 and 2002, according to new federal data suggesting that efforts to curb drunken driving have reached a plateau.

South Carolina saw the greatest increase in its death rate during the four-year period, followed by Kansas, South Dakota, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s report, which was to be released today, calculated the fatality rate per 100 million miles driven. NHTSA considers a crash alcohol-related if a driver had anything above a 0.01 blood-alcohol level, which is far lower than the 0.08 legal limit in 45 states.

The states with the highest numbers of alcohol-related deaths per miles traveled were South Carolina, Montana, South Dakota, Nevada and Louisiana.

The findings did not come as a surprise to S.C. Highway Patrol Commander Col. Russell Roark. Reducing the rate puts a challenge on all residents, not just the highway patrol, he said.

“Law enforcement can’t do it by themselves,” Roark said, adding that public education and changing driver behavior can solve the problem as well.

South Carolina ranked second in deaths in the survey, and state Public Safety Department spokesman Sid Gaulden blames “a lack of personal responsibility.”

State troopers have in place a “Sober or Slammer” campaign for the holidays, setting up checkpoints at locations with high numbers of collisions, Gaulden said.

Also, the state has installed cable barriers in highway medians to keep drivers from crossing into oncoming traffic, Gaulden said.

Barbara Harsha, executive director of the Washington-based Governors Highway Safety Association, said experts can’t explain why some states have far fewer drunken-driving deaths than others.

NHTSA’s report showed 26,173 alcohol-related traffic deaths in 1982, or 60 percent of all traffic deaths, falling to 16,572, or 40 percent, in 1999. For 2002, the figures were 17,419 alcohol-related deaths, or 41 percent of all traffic fatalities.

Staff writer J.R. Gonzales contributed to this article.