Personal Injury Law

Alcohol Impaired Drivers Continue to Kill

By John A. Day

According to NHTSA's National Center for Statistics and Analysis there were 1035 people killed on Tennessee roads in 2008.  Of those fatalities, 327 of them involved at least one driver who had a blood alcohol level of 0.8 or greater. 

This is an alcohol-related death rate of .47 people per 100 Million Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT). The death rate per VMT is down 11.3% from a year earlier.

In 2008, Montana had the highest alcohol-impaired fatality rate in the Nation – 0.84 fatalities per 100 million VMT while Vermont had the lowest rate in the Nation – 0.16 per 100 million VMT.

In the country as a whole some 11,773 people died in alcohol-related crashes.

The holiday season brings lots of parties, and lots of parties means an increased consumption of alcohol, all too frequently to excess.  Use your head during the holiday season and, if you do not know that you can consume alcohol in moderation,  select and use a designated driver.  And, once you have figured out that you can act responsibly during the holidays, keep up the good work in the following days and years.

No one is saying that you should not be able to enjoy the holiday season and that, if you are an adult, you cannot  enjoy alcohol as a part of celebration of the season.  But you have no right to place the lives of others at risk because you choose to operate a vehicle while you are impaired.

Full post as published by Day on Torts on December 09, 2009 (boomark / email).