Drivers in Louisiana who get behind the wheel while they are drunk put themselves and others at great risk. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Adminstration, 30 people are killed every day in car accidents that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. Almost one-third of all of the annual traffic fatalities in the U.S. involve a drunk driver.
Car accident statistics reveal that young people are more likely to be involved in a crash when a driver is impaired by alcohol at any BAC level. Drivers between the ages of 21 and 24 were involved in one-third of all fatal car accidents in 2012 where a driver had a .08 percent or higher BAC level. More than one-quarter of these fatal drunk driving accidents involved drivers between the ages of 25 and 34, and 24 percent involved a driver between the ages of 35 and 44.
It is widely recommended that communities and law enforcement agencies use a variety of safety measures to lower the number of fatal drunk driving crashes. One suggestion is to require people who are convicted for drunk driving to undergo mandatory treatment for substance abuse issues. The use of sobriety checkpoints on roads has also been encouraged.
After suffering injuries in a drunk driving accident, a victim may be entitled to seek financial compensation from the alcohol-impaired driver. An attorney might be able to help assess the full extent of the victim’s financial losses and file a personal injury claim seeking appropriate damages. A victim of a car crash may file a civil claim against a drunk driver regardless of whether any criminal charges have been issued.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Impaired Driving: Get the Facts”, accessed on Jan. 31, 2015
