Legal loopholes mean more drunken driving defendants get back on the road in the Coastal Bend, where more than 100 died in alcohol-related car accidents from 1998 to 2001. In the state with the most alcohol-related traffic deaths and a reputation for letting drunken drivers off the hook, the Coastal Bend lags far behind the rest of Texas in drunk-driving convictions. Texas led the nation last year in alcohol-related traffic deaths with more than 1,740. Critics blame lax prosecution efforts, high dismissal rates and weak laws. In Nueces County, the likelihood that a case will be dismissed is more than...