With the New Year right around the corner, people across the nation – and the world – are getting ready to count down the end of 2015 and ring in 2016. For many, this celebration will involve drinking alcohol, which is why about 10,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the U.S. will be heightening their DUI enforcement efforts this evening.
Regardless of your plans for this evening, here are some important facts to know about drunk driving so that:
- You can make safe and responsible choices tonight (or anytime your plans involve celebrating with alcohol).
- You can help others make good choices – like calling a cab, instead of getting behind the wheel if they have been drinking.
Drunk Driving: The Facts
- Every 57 minutes, someone in the U.S. is killed in a drunk driving crash – While this means that, every day, about 25 people are killed in these accidents, annually, it results in nearly 10,000 drunk driving-related deaths in the U.S. Compounding this is the fact that, at least one time every 2 minutes, a drunk driving crash injures someone in the U.S. These rates of impaired driving injuries and deaths are astounding considering the fact that these crashes are 100 percent preventable.
- About 1 in every 3 traffic fatalities in Colorado results from a drunk driving accident – Each year, this means that about 150 Coloradans are killed in impaired driving crashes (according to CDOT). While drunk drivers themselves are often among those killed in these crashes, so too are pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Impaired drivers are about four times more likely to be on the roads at night – And this increases over weekends and holidays, particularly those known for festive, booze-filled celebrations (like New Year’s Eve).
- At the legal limit, drivers are about four times more likely to be in traffic crashes – In other words, when compared to sober drivers, drivers with BACs of 0.08 are about four times more likely to be in an accident. Some of the reasons for this include that intoxication usually leads to perception impairments, coordination problems, poor judgment and delayed reaction times.
- At BACs of 0.15, the crash risk quadruples – So, when drivers BACs are nearly double the legal limit, they are about 16 times more likely to be in a traffic crash (when compared to the risk associated with sober motorists).
Contact a Denver Car Accident Lawyer at the Klibaner Law Firm
Have you been injured in an auto accident? If so, a Denver car accident lawyer at the Klibaner Law Firm is here for you, ready to aggressively advocate your rights to help you obtain the compensation you deserve. At the Klibaner Law Firm, our lawyers have two primary goals:
- Helping our clients obtain fair, reasonable, and just compensation for their injuries
- Doing every possible to assist our clients in maximizing their financial recoveries and reclaiming their lives.
To learn more about your options and how we can help you, contact our firm today by calling us at (303) 863-1445 or emailing us using the contact form on this page.
From our offices based in Denver, our attorneys provide superior representation to injured people throughout the Denver metro area and Colorado.