Drunk driving kills 12-year-old boy in Old Forge, PA

Drunk driving continues to be a serious problem in our area and across the country. The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) found that across the country, about one in every four people who were convicted for drunk driving was a repeat offender. A Philadelphia Inquirer article published earlier this week reported that Pennsylvania has a high rate of offenders. The article said that although someone dies on average every day in Pennsylvania from a DUI accident, it is one of the few states that require a conviction before yanking a license for DUI.

Although than 600 Pennsylvania police departments, including the state police, participated in a nationwide DUI crackdown over Labor Day weekend, with DUI checkpoints and roving patrols, drunk driving that weekend caused heartbreak for many families. Locally, there was a much accident-related tragedy. WNEP TV reported that crashes killed nearly a dozen people, including a 12-year-old boy who was killed in a crash while driving with his father in Old Forge. Their car was involved in a collision with an SUV. The driver of the SUV, who ran from the scene and was caught a short time later, is suspected of DUI. Neither the boy nor his father was wearing a seatbelt, which also reinforces the importance of wearing seatbelts at all times.

The NHTSA reported that in 2012, more than 10,3000 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes – one every 51 minutes. That accounted for 31% of the total traffic fatalities for the entire year. In 2012, 20% of the motor vehicle crashes involving children 14 and younger involved an alcohol-impaired driver. Of those deaths, 52% of the children were occupants of a vehicle with a drunk driver.

The Pennsylvania State Police just released these statistics regarding crashes over Labor Day weekend. Thirteen people were killed and 211 others injured in 686 crashes investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police. These statistics only included those crashes investigated by the state police, not those investigated by local authorities. The State Police reported that 70 of those crashes, including two fatal crashes, were alcohol related. The state police issued 10,050 speeding tickets and arrested 545 drivers for DUI. In addition, troopers cited 813 people for not wearing seat belts and 204 drivers for not securing children in safety seats.

Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys offer the following warning signs of a drunk driver:

• Tailgating
• Quick acceleration
• Excessive braking
• Veering through the lanes or swerving
• Driving very slowly or under the speed limit
• Almost striking an object, curb or vehicle
• Straddling the center line
• Driving off the road
• Slow response to traffic signals
• Not using headlights at night
• Turning abruptly
• Stopping abruptly

Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys encourages you to stay as far away from a potential drunk driver as possible and call 911 immediately if you suspect someone is driving drunk. Pull over to call 911, giving your exact location and a description of the suspicious vehicle. By calling 911, you could be saving a life.

If you have been involved in an accident with a drunk driver or another car or truck accident, call the Pennsylvania personal injury lawyers at Munley Law Personal Injury Attorneys. We will fight to get you the compensation you deserve. Call 855-866-5529 or visit www.munley.com.