I previously applauded the National Transportation Safety Board’s recommendation to lower the 0.08 blood alcohol content (BAC) to 0.05 percent and thought about that when I was just hired to represent a woman hit by a young man with a .10% BAC. I handle a lot of these cases (unfortunately).
I’m in the process of finalizing the details for a $100,000 settlement (liability policy limits) for a man who was hit by a drunk woman with a BAC of .15%. And here’s a recent photo after the drunk driver crashed into another truck at a high rate of speed.
More than 6,600 impaired drivers are involved in fatal collisions each year and 10,000 people are killed, with about half caused by drivers whose BACs are up to .16%. That’s two times the legal limit in Texas.
Drivers younger than 26 cause the most auto fatalities in the United States and 21% of young drivers involved in a fatal accident have some alcohol in their system — much higher than in other age groups. Studies have shown that even a small amount of alcohol interferes with a person’s ability to concentrate. And for younger, less experienced drivers, even one drink can cause the loss of reaction time that might prove fatal.
Of all the car and truck crash cases I handle, these are the most reprehensible — and often the most deadly or injurious.