According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Georgia beats the national average for drunk driving accident fatalities. This dubious distinction is a good reminder to readers of this personal injury legal blog that drunk drivers are a threat to everyone who must share the roads with them and who must anticipate their negligent and often dangerous conduct. The many victims that are created in drunk driving accidents every year are reminded that they have legal rights and speaking with personal injury attorneys about their experience may guide them through the legal processes of recovering their accident-related damages.
According to the CDC, 3,699 people died within the state from vehicle accidents involving drunk drivers between the years 2003 and 2012. This figure averages out to around one drunk driving fatality within Georgia every single day during the period of time applicable to the statistic. While men are more likely to perish in drunk driver-involved crashes than women, both men and women in Georgia die at a higher rate that the national averages when alcohol is involved in vehicle crashes.
Drunk driving accidents are often avoidable through responsible decision-making on the part of drivers. However, since alcohol also affects drivers’ capacities to make good decisions, there is sometimes no way for an innocent victim to prevent a collision with a driver whose abilities are impacted by alcohol.
Even though drunk drivers can face criminal liability for their actions, their potential charges do not prevent their victims from suing them in civil court. Civil claims based on personal injuries provide victims with compensation to pay for their medical bills and treatments, to help them deal with their pain and suffering and to remedy other harms that they experienced due to their involvement in drunk driving accidents.
