A driver is facing charges for driving while intoxicated after crashing into a guardrail in Newport News, Virginia (VA), and causing early morning commuter chaos.The accident shut down Warwick Boulevard in Newport News for much of the morning. “A preliminary investigation revealed a Dodge Stratus traveling north on Warwick Boulevard ran off the road, hit a guard rail and then a utility pole, snapping it in half,” WAVY reported.
Police said Warwick Boulevard was shut down for four to five hours by the wreck. Traffic was diverted to alternative routes. The driver of the car fled the scene. He was later picked up, arrested and charged with DWI, obstruction of justice, false report and unauthorized use of a vehicle. Fortunately, while this accident caused congestion chaos, there were no injuries. But it appears to illustrate again how drinking alcohol can cause impaired driving.
Our Virginia (VA) personal injury attorneys have reported on numerous cases where drunk drivers have killed innocent people, including a pedestrian who died in Portsmouth, VA, last year. In that case the driver didn’t stop. Charges brought against the driver included felony homicide and involuntary manslaughter related to driving under the influence of alcohol.
This video depicts a school exercise showing the dangers of drunken driving.
In 2009 a deadly combination of alcohol and speed was linked to the deaths of two young people in Norfolk, VA. In the same year, more stringent laws targeting drunken drivers were enacted in the Virginia state legislature. If alcohol or drugs are found to be the cause of a wreck, the at fault driver’s insurer may have to pay punitive damages in addition to the money to compensate the family of a person killed in an accident in Virginia.
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