Pennsylvania personal injury lawyer warns beware of drunk drivers

The summer months are filled with graduation parties, reunions, picnics and other celebrations and travels. This time of year also brings an increase in drunk drivers.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, every 2-hours, three people are killed in this country in alcohol-related highway crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported 33,561 crash fatalities in 2012, of those 31% or 10,322 involved a drunk driver. This was a 4.6% increase from the previous year.

In 2012, 239 children age 14 and younger were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Of those, 124 were in the vehicle with a drunk driver. The NHTSA reported that the rate of alcohol impairment among drivers in fatal crashes in 2012 was nearly 4 times higher at night than during the day. 15% of al drivers involved in fatal crashes during the week were alcohol-impaired, compared to 30% on the weekends. In 2012, the 21-to 24-year-old age group had the highest percentage of drunk drivers in fatal crashes with 32%.

According to the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, Inc. (NCADD), there are over 1.4 million arrests for DWI each year. Two-thirds of those sentenced to incarceration are repeat offenders.

Despite all of the public awareness and the statistics, drinking, and driving continues. When drinking alcohol driving becomes dangerous and potentially lethal. Alcohol adversely affects driving-related skills such as vision, reaction time, judgment, and the ability to divide attention.

How do various amounts of alcohol affect a driver?

• BAC of 0.02: A person begins to experience some loss of judgment, relaxation and altered mood, which results in a decline in visual functions and ability to perform two tasks at the same time.
• BAC of 0.05: Psychomotor performance is significantly impaired, slower eye movements occur, visual perception, reaction time and information processing are adversely affected, reduced coordination, reduced ability to track moving objects, difficulty steering and reduced response to emergency driving situations.
• BAC of 0.08: Poor muscle coordination (balance, speech, reaction time, and hearing), it is harder to detect danger and judgment, self-control, reasoning, and memory are impaired, resulting in reduced concentration, short-term memory loss, loss of speed control, reduced information processing capability and impaired perception.

It’s simple, don’t drink and drive. It’s a hazardous combination.

If you have been injured in a car accident, Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys can fight for you! Call the Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys at 855-866-5529.