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Home » Blog » Impaired Driving Leads to Tragic Crashes Every Day on Our Nation’s Roads

Impaired Driving Leads to Tragic Crashes Every Day on Our Nation’s Roads

drunk driver goes down a road at night. view from inside the vehicle in the driver's seat, with blurry vision to indicate impairment.

Lawyers representing car accident injury victims in OH, PA, and WV explain

Car accidents caused by drivers under the influence of alcohol or other drugs remain a serious problem nationwide, according to a recent study conducted by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

"Alcohol-impaired driving is involved in nearly one in three traffic fatalities, and the problem of driving while impaired by other drugs alone or combined continues to create harm on our roadways," the NTSB report states.

Sadly, such news is no surprise to our experienced car accident attorneys at Recht Law Offices. We know because our lawyers have been helping injury victims for years in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Ohio deal with serious car crashes.

How common are drunk driving accidents?

While there are many types of impaired driving, drunk driving remains more common than all other types of impaired driving, according to the recent NTSB study. Specifically, drunk drivers caused collisions in 2020 that resulted in 11,654 deaths, which was roughly 1 out of 3 car accident fatalities that year nationwide, according to the study.

Similar statistics apply to Pennsylvania. In 2020, 322 people died in car crashes caused by drivers with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent higher, according to car accident data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). That figure represents 28.5 percent of all car accident fatalities in Pennsylvania that year.

What are other common types of impaired driving?

While drunk driving remains very common, it's not the only form of impaired driving. After driving under the influence of alcohol, cannabis has become the second-most common form of impaired driving nationwide, according to a Forbes article about the NTSB study. In addition, the Forbes article noted that "while alcohol is most often detected alone, cannabis was most often identified in combination with alcohol or other drugs."

Here's another startling statistic from the NTSB study. In 2020, more than 1 in 10 respondents reported driving under the influence of alcohol and/or an illicit drug or illicit drugs in the past year, according to the latest National Survey on Drug Use and Health cited in the recent NTSB study.

What can be done to prevent impaired driving?

Along with reporting on the latest impaired driving statistics, the NTSB also offered several suggestions for preventing such accidents in the future. Such suggestions include:

  • Implement proven countermeasures for alcohol-impaired driving.
  • Address the growing problem of drivers using more than one drug while driving.
  • Improve enforcement of existing impaired driving laws and improve laws if necessary.
  • Improve documentation of drug and alcohol use while driving.
  • Require that cannabis products have a warning label on them about the dangers of impaired driving.
  • Standardize tests for detecting drug use among drivers.

How can a car accident attorney help?

You might think you don't need a lawyer if an impaired driver caused your collision. But the reality is such injury claims or lawsuits often quickly turn into complicated legal cases. That's because the police investigation of such accidents does not focus on whether or not you are fairly compensated for your injury-related expenses, which can quickly add up to thousands of dollars or much more.

That's our job. That's why our car accident lawyers at Recht Law Offices want to meet with you as soon as possible. Founded in 1952, our law firm has more than seven decades of legal experience fighting for the rights of injury victims and their families.

Discover what we can do for you. Contact us and schedule a free case evaluation with a car accident lawyer who puts your best interests first. We have offices in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Weirton, West Virginia, and handle cases in West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. We work on injury claims on a contingency fee basis. That means you only have to pay us if we secure a financial settlement or verdict for you. Call now. We can help.

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