Holidays like New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, Memorial Day, Christmas, Fourth of July, Labor Day and Easter are cause for celebration with family and friends, including barbecues, parties, vacations, and trips to bars and restaurants.
Unfortunately, there is also an increase in drunk driving on these holidays, resulting in crashes that cause countless severe injuries and deaths each year.
If you were injured or lost a loved one in a car accident caused by drunk driving, contact our car accident attorneys in Savannah for a free legal consultation. We may be able to file a personal injury claim to obtain compensation.
HOLIDAY DRUNK DRIVING CRASH STATISTICS
Drunk driving accidents represent a large percentage of the fatal accidents that occur on many major holidays, according to ValuePenguin’s analysis of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration data from 2011 to 2015.
The percentage of drunk driving crashes per holiday from 2011 to 2015 breaks down as follows:
- Memorial Day: 40.3 percent
- Fourth of July: 38.5 percent
- Easter: 37.4 percent
- Labor Day: 36.3 percent
- New Year’s Eve: 35.8 percent
- Thanksgiving: 34.7 percent
- Christmas: 30.7 percent
On an average day, drunk driving crashes represent just 29.2 percent of the total number of fatal crashes.
DANGERS OF DRIVING AFTER DRINKING
The legal limit for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) is 0.08 percent. However, alcohol causes numerous problems even when your BAC is 0.02 percent, which occurs after only two drinks.
When you reach this BAC, you may experience a decline in visual function, including a decline in the ability to rapidly track moving targets. You could also experience impaired judgment and a decline in the ability to perform two tasks at the same time.
When your BAC hits the legal limit, these impairments become much more pronounced. You could also experience:
- Poor muscle coordination affecting balance, speech, vision and reaction time
- Impaired judgment, self-control and memory
- Short-term memory loss
- Reduced ability to process visual cues
- Trouble concentrating
TIPS TO PREVENT DRINKING AND DRIVING
Driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol puts your life and the lives of other drivers at risk. It is also illegal and a DUI conviction comes with stiff penalties.
There are several precautions you can take to avoid drinking and driving during major holidays:
FINDING A DESIGNATED DRIVER
If you are going out with a group of people, ask one of them to be a designated driver and make sure this person does not drink any alcohol before driving you and your friends home.
ASKING IF YOU CAN STAY THE NIGHT
If you are going to a party at someone’s house and you drink, ask the host if you can stay the night to avoid impaired driving.
CALLING A RIDESHARING SERVICE OR TAXI
One of the great things about many people having cellphones is that they can easily call rideshare services or taxis to avoid drunk driving. You can always get a ride to pick up your car the next morning. The important thing is that you do not try to drive yourself home that night.
USING THE TOW TO GO PROGRAM
On major holidays, AAA’s Tow to Go program provides a free ride and car tow to anyone who needs it. Simply call (855) 2-TOW-2-GO or (855) 286-9246.
This program has kept more than 24,000 impaired drivers off the road since its inception in 1998.
CONTACT OUR EXPERIENCED ATTORNEYS FOR A FREE CONSULTATION
If you suffered a severe injury or lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident on a holiday, contact our Savannah personal injury lawyers for a free, no obligation legal consultation.
If you have a case and choose one of our attorneys to represent you, we will not charge legal fees unless there is a favorable resolution of your claim.
We will conduct a thorough investigation to build a strong case to help improve your chances of recovering fair compensation. While compensation cannot change what happened, it can help you and your family manage the damages the accident caused.
Call 855-856-4212 or fill out a Free Case Evaluation form today to set up your free consultation.