With the arrival of the holiday season, law enforcement agencies in New York and around the country are on high alert for drunk drivers. The national “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign is winding down but promises to continue increased patrols through the first of the year to reduce injuries and deaths attributable to drinking and driving. Drinking and driving is a year-round problem in the Big Apple; however, Christmas and New Year’s see a marked increase in drinking and driving arrests and crashes.
The “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign has tried to impress upon motorists the chance they take of getting arrested if they drink and drive. The commercials typically show an “invisible” police officer who sees the drunk driver long before the motorist sees the officer. An average of 1.4 million people are arrested for drunk driving or similar offenses throughout the country each year. While a drunk driving conviction can cost a motorist a small fortune in fines, costs and insurance rate increases, those costs are nothing compared to what a drunk driving accident costs a victim.
The victim of a drunk driving crash often suffers physical, emotional and financial injuries. Across the nation, 11,000 people are killed each year as a result of drunk driving. According to the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles, there were 8,461 alcohol-related crashes throughout the state in 2011. Of those, 330 were fatal crashes and another 4,298 were injury crashes. Of the alcohol-related fatalities, 170 of those killed were drinking drivers, 15 were non-drinking drivers, and 73 were passengers. Sadly, 91 pedestrians and 13 bicyclists also lost their lives in New York in alcohol-related crashes in 2011.
The car accident attorneys at Ginarte Gonzalez Winograd L.L.P., urge everyone to think twice before getting behind the wheel after drinking during the festive holiday season. Plan ahead and designate a sober driver or simply call a cab. Not only is your own future at stake, but so is the future of everyone you will come into contact with on the roadway if you choose to drink and drive.