Summer Drunk Driving Crashes

Motor vehicle collisions have various causes throughout the year in Louisiana, and crashes caused by drunk driving can occur regardless of the season. However, data suggests that intoxicated driving crashes tend to spike during the summer months, increasing the risk of injury in a wreck caused by a drunk driver. Holidays tend to be particularly dangerous — such as the Fourth of July — but drunk driving is also something that happens as a result of late summer nights, vacations and get-togethers, backyard cookouts, and other practices that are more common in the summertime. What do you need to know about intoxicated driving injuries in the summer? Our Shreveport drunk driving lawyers can tell you more, and we are here to help with your case.

Intoxicated Driving is Rising, Especially in the Summer 

Impaired driving rates have been rising in recent years, according to an article in Forbes, and the summer months are seeing a particularly notable increase in drunk driving. Intoxicated driving now accounts for more than 30 percent of all traffic fatalities, and data suggests that an average of 37 people are killed each day in the United States in drunk driving crashes. To put that figure another way, a person dies because of a drunk driver every 39 minutes on average.

Since 2021, the rate of impaired driving has risen by 14 percent, and about two-thirds of all drunk driving fatalities involve a motorist with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of more than 0.15 percent. In Louisiana, driving with a BAC of 0.08 percent or higher is considered drunk driving.

Deadly Fourth of July Drunk Driving Crashes 

While intoxicated driving increases throughout the summer months, the Fourth of July holiday is a particularly deadly day when it comes to drunk driving collisions in Louisiana and throughout the country. In fact, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), nearly 500 people died in traffic collisions on the Fourth of July in 2022 alone, and about 40 percent of those fatal crashes involved an intoxicated motorist. In nearly 30 percent of the drunk driving crashes, at least one of the drivers had a blood alcohol concentration at or above 0.15 percent, which is, as the NHTSA underscores, “almost twice the legal limit in almost every state.”

In addition to fatal crashes, there are thousands of nonfatal collisions that occur on the Fourth of July as a result of drunk driving. About 50 percent of drunk drivers involved in fatal and nonfatal Fourth of July impaired driving collisions are in the 21-34 age group, according to the NHTSA.

Contact a Shreveport Drunk Driving Injury Attorney Today 

Whether drunk driving was the sole cause of a crash or one of several causal factors in a collision that resulted in personal injuries, it is critical to hold the drunk driver accountable. Depending on the circumstances of the collision, you may be eligible to seek compensation through an insurance claim and through a drunk driving lawsuit. An experienced Shreveport car accident lawyer at Rice & Kendig can assess your case for you today and can assist you throughout the claims process. Contact us at 318-222-2772 for more information.

Sources:

forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2023/08/15/impaired-driving-is-on-the-rise-labor-day-period-particularly-deadly/

trafficsafetymarketing.gov/safety-topics/drunk-driving/drive-sober-or-get-pulled-over/fourth-july