Year after year, the data surrounding fatal car crashes points to alcohol as a major contributing factor. Public awareness campaigns and increased law enforcement have not been enough to stem the tide. Impaired driving may be the primary motivator for people to try driverless vehicles. Here’s what our attorneys want you to know.
The Scope of Drunk Driving
Because we represent car accident victims, we’ve gotten the sense that drunk driving is not unusual. The statistics bear that out. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, roughly one-third of car accident deaths nationwide involve one or more impaired drivers.
Texas alone sees more than 2,000 alcohol-related traffic fatalities per year. That represents nearly half of the total number of car crash deaths in the state. When you hear about a deadly crash, it’s as likely as not that an impaired driver was involved.
Public Pressure Works to a Point
The battle against drinking and driving intensified during the 1980s. The Federal Uniform Drinking Age Act of 1984 pressured states into raising their legal drinking age to 21. Groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving mobilized to educate the public and advocate for changes in impaired driving laws. The issue was front and center.
That pressure had an impact. Drunk driving deaths dropped, both in terms of total numbers and in the percentage of deaths tied to one or more impaired drivers. That progress has largely stopped, however.
Surveys show that most people know that drinking and driving is dangerous. Still, around 1 in 5 drivers surveyed admit to driving when they thought they were legally intoxicated. People know it’s bad. They do it anyway.
Law Enforcement Efforts
Around one million people are arrested for impaired driving each year in the United States. While that sounds like a large number, it represents only a fraction of the estimated number of drunk driving incidents. People who drive drunk typically get away with it.
Stiffer penalties have made the consequences of drinking and driving worse when a person is caught. But that has not been enough to remove the problem. The death toll is still stubbornly high, spelling tragedy for countless families every year.
Technological Solutions Are Far Off
Self-driving cars could start to solve the problem, but that may be decades away. There are also systems that could detect an impaired driver and render a vehicle inoperable if the driver is drunk. Neither solution is likely to come in the near future.
Eliminating drunk driving is certainly a worthy goal. Realistically, though, there will never be a time when drivers voluntarily refuse to drive drunk. People make bad decisions every day. Alcohol does not improve those decisions.
Call Our Dallas Car Accident Attorneys for Help
At The Fell Law Firm, our Texas lawyers have extensive experience with car and truck accidents involving impaired drivers. Call our Dallas offices at 972-450-1418 to schedule a free consultation.
