Drunk Driving and Distracted Driving Crashes
There have been significant reductions in the number of fatalities over the last three decades, however, every day almost 30 people in the US die in drunk driving crashes, that’s one person every 48 minutes in 2017. A drunk driver accident lawyer Mesa, AZ can investigate negligence and damages claims and represent the injured party in any litigation that is necessary to obtain fair damages.
From 1982 to 2017 drunk driving fatalities in the U.S. have fallen 48%, and total traffic fatalities have declined 16%. Drunk driving fatalities have decreased 80% among the population under 21. Very drunk drivers continue to be the biggest danger on the roads and cause almost 70% of drunk driving fatalities. This has remained relatively unchanged for more than a decade.
In 2017, the rate of alcohol impaired driving fatalities per 100,000 was 3.4, this was a 63% decrease since the National Highway Traffic Safety (NHTSA) began recording alcohol related statistics in 1982. According to the NHTSA, 37,133 died in traffic crashes in 2017 in the US, including an estimated 10,874 people who were killed in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal blood alcohol content (BAC) of .08 or higher.
Among the people killed in these drunk driving crashes, 68% were in crashes in which at least one driver in the crash had a BAC of .15 or higher.
The legal limit for BAC is set at .08 G/DL in most of the US because the crash risk increases exponentially at that level, but the driver is also affected at lower BAC levels. In 2017, there were 1,837 people killed in alcohol-related crashes where drivers had lower alcohol levels between .01 and .97 g/dL.
The NHTSA has documented the effects of Blood Alcohol Concentration (BAC) starting at .02 up to .15. Even at a BAC of .02 g/dL a person experiences some loss of judgment, decline in visual function, ability to track a moving target, and decline in ability to perform two tasks at the same time.
By the time a driver has a BAC of .05 g/dL, he or she has reduced coordination, reduced ability to track moving objects, difficulty steering, reduced response to emergency driving situations. At a BAC of .08 g/dL, they also have short term memory loss and impaired perception.
There has been a general decline in fatalities from drunk driving in the US, but Pennsylvania actually had its numbers go up in 2018. The number of drunk and drugged fatalities in Pennsylvania rose last year, making the number of overall road deaths to rise 4.6%.
Two disturbing trends led to the increase in deaths. Drugged and drunk driving fatalities rose by 44.3%, and the number of pedestrians killed increased by 34%. A drunk driver accident lawyer Mesa, AZ can investigate fault and claims for damages for injuries sustained, medical bills and economic losses.
A recent University of Missouri study concluded that distracted drivers are 29 times more likely to be involved in a highway work zone collision or near collision. Drivers who were distracted by a phone call, text message or another passenger increased their risk of collision or near collision.
In 2017, 799 fatalities occurred in work zones, the most since 2007, according to an American Road and Transportation Builders Association report.
A drunk driver accident lawyer Mesa, AZ can advise a crash victim or his, her family members regarding legal remedies. Contact Paul Englander, PLC today.