As the holiday season kicks off, you and many Alabama residents look forward to a variety of celebrations with friends, families and coworkers. While these things can be wonderful indeed, there can be a dangerous side to them when partygoers get in their vehicles to drive home after drinking alcohol. The dangers associated with drinking and driving can turn holiday festivities into holiday tragedies.
Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show how this danger is actually present all year long, with too many people losing their lives to drunk drivers. The number of fatalities recorded in the state each year between 2011 and 2015 confirms that even public awareness campaigns and tough legal penalties are not enough to prevent people from making the risky choice to drive after drinking. In 2011, there were 261 drunk driving deaths. The following year saw a slight dip down to 240 followed by increases in the subsequent years to 259 and then 265 in 2013 and 2014, respectively. In 2015, Alabama experienced 247 vehicular fatalities in accidents involving alcohol.
Jefferson County had far and away more impaired driving deaths than its neighboring counties with a total of 135 lives lost in the county over the five years spanning 2011 to 2015. Among its nearby counties, Tuscaloosa had the next highest number of fatalities in this same time period with 57.
If you would like to learn more about the dangers presented by drunk drivers and how you can get help after an accident, please feel free to visit the loss compensation page of our Alabama personal injury website.
