Google “drunk driving statistics” and one of the first hits you’ll get is a summary of federal data that states that in 2009, “an estimated 10,839 people … died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes. Drunk driving fatalities accounted for 32 percent of all traffic deaths.” Add in the number of U.S. traffic fatalities caused by people who took the wheel of a car or truck after becoming impaired by a prescription medication or illegal drug such as marijuana or meth, and the total of annual wrongful deaths attributable to drunk and drugged driving exceeds 13,000.
Check out these case results and blogs by our VA personal injury lawyers involving people injured or killed by drunk and drugged drivers in Virginia:
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As terrible as those facts seem, focusing on the loss of life due to people who drive while intoxicated can minimize the harm DUI/DWI car crashes and truck wrecks do in terms of personal injuries to tens of thousands innocent drivers and passengers in other vehicles, people riding bicycles and pedestrians.
Victims of drunk and drugged driving, whether they personally suffer injuries or have a family member killed in a DUI/DWI accident, are entitled to compensation from the at-fault driver for the medical treatment expenses, lost wages and pain and suffering incurred following the crash. As Virginia and Carolina personal injury attorneys, we welcome chances to pursue civil lawsuits against at-fault drunk or drugged drivers and the insurance companies who hold those individual’s auto policies. We also take every legitimate opportunity to file claims for punitive damages from DUI/DWI drivers.
EJL