The scenario is all too common: A person assures his friends that he’s fine to drive after having a few drinks and ends up dead later that night. Driving under the influence of any type of mind-altering substance is illegal, yet more common than most are comfortable admitting. In fact, impaired driving will affect one in three Americans at some point in the life. Even worse, people over the age of 35 who are arrested for impaired driving are 11 to 12 times more likely to die in an alcohol-related crash than those who haven’t.
Someone dies in an alcohol-related motor vehicle crash every 30 minutes. Similarly, around 1.5 million individuals were arrested in 2000 for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. Alarmingly enough, drugs other than alcohol (marijuana, cocaine, etc) have been found to play a role in 18% of deaths among drivers. What’s worse, these other drugs are often used together with alcohol. Some prevention strategies have been proposed to target this disturbing issue, including:
- Suspending DUI offenders’ driver's licenses.
- Implementing zero tolerance policies for drivers under 21 in all states.
- Increasing the number of sobriety checkpoints.
- Creating more community-based approaches to alcohol control and DWI prevention.
- Reducing the BAC legal limit to 0.05%.
- Increasing both state and federal alcohol excise taxes.
- Conducting required blood alcohol testing to those involved in traffic accidents resulting in injury.
It is shocking to learn that male drivers who still are not old enough to buy alcohol report driving under the influence about as much as those between the ages of 21 and 34. The risk of suffering an accident is greater for young people compared to older ones, regardless of what BAC they register. Regardless of the situation, if you find yourself involved in a car accident due to impaired driving, you should legal help from an experienced attorney. DUIs are very complex matters, and require extensive knowledge and professionalism.
- If you need legal assistance with an Auto Injury Claim, please consult with a Car Accident Lawyer near you to discuss the details of your case. The content of this article is provided for informational purposes only.
