A rear-end collision between a FedEx cargo van and a car in Milton, West Virginia (WV), resulted in drunk driving charges against the delivery driver. The accident, which left a person in the car with injuries requiring hospital treatment, occurred on East Main Street in the Cabell County town on the afternoon of April 1, 2015.
According to the Herald-Dispatch, the FedEx employee was on duty and had a blood alcohol content of .164 — twice the legal limit — after being taken to a medical center for a blood draw and analysis. The newspaper also reported that the at-fault commercial truck driver was found with an open bottle of vodka in his vehicle and failed two of three police officer-administered field sobriety tests. The resulting basic charge for driving under the influence of alcohol was raised to a more serious one with a higher possible sanction with the addition of the exacerbating factor of causing injuries while operating a motor vehicle.
While no person should ever drive while drunk and actively drinking, a commercial truck driver should feel professional obligations to avoid DUI incidents even if moral and ethical concerns about risking other people’s lives and health do not prove strong enough dissuasions. In fact, most trucking shipping and delivery companies regularly and randomly test their drivers for drug and alcohol use. Even without causing a crash, an employee who reports to work while impaired can lose his or her job.
Sadly, the FedEx driver in West Virginia ignored every reason to drive sober and badly injured an innocent person. It’s an avoidable situation my personal injury and wrongful death law firm colleagues and I see the sad results of every day. While we do not know how to keep drunk drivers off the road, we strongly support all efforts to do so.
EJL