According to a survey reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2.1 percent of the drivers in Connecticut admitted to driving after they had consumed too much alcohol. Combined with other statistics stating that 30 people die each day in U.S. accidents involving an intoxicated driver, the chances of becoming a victim in a drunk driving accident are pretty high.
Young drivers appear to be at greater risk of driving while intoxicated than are older drivers. The CDC reports that 33 percent of the drivers responsible for a fatal drunk driving accident were between 21 and 24 years of age. Those individuals in the 25 to 34 age group were responsible for 29 percent of accidents involving the consumption of alcohol.
While a young driver might be more prone to a drunk driving accident when the vehicle is a car, the same rule does not appear to apply to motorcycles. Fifty percent of the motorcycle riders who are killed each year in drunk driving accidents are at least 40 years of age. The 40- to 44-age group accounts for 44 percent of the fatal motorcycle accidents nationwide.
Sadly, children riding in vehicles driven by a drunk driver accounted for more than half of the 200 children killed in motor vehicle accidents nationally. Recommendations from the CDC to reduce death rates of children and adults in alcohol-related accidents include lowering the blood alcohol content level constituting intoxication to 0.05 percent and increasing the use of sobriety checkpoints to catch people who are driving under the influence.
If you have been the victim of a drunk driver, you might be entitled to financial compensation. A New Haven, Connecticut, personal injury might be able to review the facts of your car accident to determine if you are entitled to sue for damages.
