You know that drunk drivers are out there. Despite all the warnings and public education efforts, accidents involving drunk drivers continue to happen.
Just how common is the problem? The statistics may surprise you.
Drunk driving wrecks are a daily event
On average, 36 people die on the road every day in an alcohol-involved automobile accident. That number jumps up to 45 people per day during Christmas time. That fatality rate increases to 54 deaths per day around New Year’s.
Even though driving conditions are supposedly better during the summer months because of longer days, clearer skies and no snow, alcohol-related fatal wrecks are the worst during this time of the year. The alcohol-related fatality rates are most elevated in the summer compared to other times because of the increase in the number of impaired holiday drivers on the road.
Plus, newly-licensed and inexperienced teenagers take to the road en masse during the summer months. Many of these teens even get behind the wheel of their car after engaging in underage drinking. These factors have led many traffic safety analysts to refer to the summer as the “100 Deadliest Days”.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services estimates that 5.8% of teens between the ages of 16 and 17 and 15.1% of those between the ages of 18 and 20 drive under the influence of alcohol. At least 3,100 teenagers lose their lives in automobile crashes every year, with two out of three of those individuals being males due to drunk driving.
Did an intoxicated motorist strike you?
Individuals struck by intoxicated motorists often suffer catastrophic injuries in their crashes — if they survive at all. Catastrophic injuries such as spinal cord and traumatic brain ones are likely to leave you needing a lifetime of medical care. The best way to protect your future is by pressing a claim for fair compensation.