While public traffic safety agencies like the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have shifted much of their focus to distracted driving, alcohol impaired drivers remain the leading cause of fatal traffic accidents in Missouri and throughout the U.S.  While there have been significant strides taken in fighting the drunk driving epidemic, motorists who are impaired by intoxicating substances like drugs or alcohol continue to claim the lives of 10,000 people per year.  Stricter penalties for DUI, more effective law enforcement techniques, teen “zero tolerance” laws and public education campaigns have reduced the number of car crashes caused by alcohol impaired drivers.

Nonetheless, drivers operated a motor vehicle after consuming excessive amounts of alcohol 112 million times in a recent one-year period according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  Based on this data, motorists in the U.S. are placed at risk by over 300,000 drunk drivers daily.  Because drunk driving touches the lives of so many accident victims and their families, we have provided some answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about accidents and accident claims involving drunk drivers in this two-part blog series.

Is the risk really that high that someone I love will be injured or die in a drunk driving accident?

Unfortunately, all you need to do to understand the severity of the problem is look at the neighbor on either side of you.  Statistically, you or one of those neighbors has had someone they love injured or prematurely killed by an alcohol-impaired driver.  While this claim may seem incredible, the NHTSA reports that based on DUI accident statistics one in three people will be involved in a drunk driving accident at some time during their life.  The practice of driving under the influence of alcohol is so extensive that if drunk drivers had their own state it would be the fifth most populous state in the U.S. with over 17 million people according to the NHTSA.

What actions have lawmakers taken to reduce the number of collisions caused by intoxicated drivers?

The penalties for driving while impaired by alcohol have increased, which includes the imposition of mandatory minimum jail terms and installation of ignition interlock device systems (IID) in many states.  Because the number of drunk driving accidents caused by teen drivers has historically been disproportionately high, many states including Missouri have passed aggressive laws designed to discourage teen DUI accidents.  While the standard for presuming a driver is impaired is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of .08 percent for adults in Missouri, a teen driver is considered under the influence with a BAC of a mere .02 percent.  This means essentially that a driver under age 21 may be convicted of drunk driving with any measurable amount of alcohol in his or her system.

If you or someone you love is injured or a family member dies in a Missouri intoxicated driving car accident, we urge you to contact us if you have questions.  Our experienced motor vehicle accident injury attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, LLP work diligently to obtain financial compensation for our clients’ injuries so contact us toll free at (877) 535-1163 to see how we can help!

This is Part II of our blog providing guidance to those involved in Missouri car accidents, which is intended to assist injury victims in avoiding conduct that may compromise their personal injury lawsuit.  While most people are shaken emotionally during a collision, it can be critically important to keep one’s head and focus on certain tasks to ensure that mistakes do not come back to haunt you later.

Insurance companies know that the probability of evading financial responsibility for the negligent conduct of their insured or minimizing exposure is more easily accomplished when dealing with an unrepresented party.  When you deal with an insurance adjuster, the experience, resources and legal knowledge is all on the side of the insurance company that may handle thousands of insurance claims each year.  While car accident victims in Missouri should seek prompt legal advice, we have provided some additional suggestions for ways to preserve the value of your personal injury claim.

Presume You Are Under Surveillance: Some insurance companies will hire private investigators to watch plaintiffs and take pictures that contain potentially damaging information.  The insurance company investigator might get pictures of you lifting and moving boxes, for example, so that the insurer can claim that you are lying or distorting the seriousness of a back injury.  It is important to remember that sometimes video footage without audio or context can be very misleading.  The lifting may be the product of considerable effort and pain.  Alternatively, you may just be having a “good day.”  The key point is that you should be aware of the possibility you are being monitored and consider how activities might be perceived by juries when depicted in their worst light.

Carefully Screen Missouri Car Accident Lawyers: While any licensed attorney can represent you, this does not mean that all lawyers are equally qualified and experienced.  When selecting a personal injury lawyer to handle your motor vehicle accident claim, you should look for a firm that devotes a significant portion of their practice to personal injury cases.  It is also worth asking about results in other cases including both trial verdicts and settlements.  While the bulk of car accident claims will settle prior to trial, insurance companies may be more motivated in settlement negotiations when they know that a law firm is willing and prepared to proceed to trial.

Avoid Signing Anything without Legal Advice:  Some Missouri car accident victims are surprised to receive a settlement offer from the other driver’s insurance company or requests for documents to “facilitate” such a settlement.  These are misleading tactics that have nothing to do with fairly compensating you for your injuries.  Insurance companies make money by settling claims for less than their value or denying claims completely.  When the insurance company offers you a settlement check, it typically will be accompanied by a general release of liability that will extinguish all legal claims even those related to injuries that you do not know exist when you sign the agreement.  The fact the insurance company is offering you the settlement fairly quickly and while you do not have legal representation essentially amounts to an acknowledgement the insurance company knows your claim is worth considerably more than the insurer is offering.  Further, any document you sign will promote the best interest of the insurance company so you should not sign anything without the legal advice of a knowledgeable Missouri car accident attorney.

If you or someone you love is injured or a family member dies in a Missouri auto collision, we urge you to contact us if you have questions.  Our experienced Missouri DUI car accident injury attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, LLP work diligently to obtain financial compensation for our clients’ injuries so contact us toll free at (877) 535-1163 to see how we can help!

While drunken driving car accident fatalities have declined in recent years, intoxicated driver continue to claim the lives of approximately 30, 000 vehicle occupants annually while causing serious injury to millions more.  The state and federal government have devoted enormous resources to preventing drunken driving in the form of increased patrols, sobriety checkpoints, tougher DUI penalties, public awareness programs, teen “zero tolerance laws” and wider implementation of breath alcohol ignition interlock devices.

Despite this enormous commitment of resources to reduce the risk of alcohol related accidents, families throughout Missouri and the U.S. have their lives changed every day by drunken drivers.  It may be tempting to presume that your chances of becoming the victim of a drunk driver are remote.  However, you should consider that if you live in a household of 6 people, statistically two family members will be involved in a collision with a drunk driver at some point during their life according to data from the Loyola University Health System.  There are approximately 600,000 collisions a year in which alcohol is a factor, which constitutes approximately ten percent of all traffic collisions.

Drivers who are intoxicated present a substantial risk of causing a collision which results in serious personal injury or wrongful death.  Alcohol impaired drivers often compound limitations on reflexes, decision-making and perception with unrealistic estimates of their own driving ability.  Drivers with this over-inflated sense of their own driving abilities may speed, tailgate, multi-task and otherwise take unacceptable driving risks.

If you are involved in a collision with a driver you suspect is intoxicated, you should indicate to the investigating officer that you think the other driver may have been drinking as well as why you reached that conclusion.  This may be based on your personal observations of the other driver including the odor of alcohol on the driver’s breath, slurred speech, lack of coordination, red bloodshot eyes or other effects from alcohol.  While the officer may conduct a DUI investigation without your prompting, your eyewitness testimony may provide evidence justifying field sobriety tests and blood alcohol testing.

When you are involved in a collision caused by a drunken driver, you may also be entitled to punitive damages.  Punitive damages are intended to punish reckless drivers and discourage similar unsafe driving practices in the future.  If you or someone you love is injured or a family member dies in a drunken driving accident in Missouri, the experienced Missouri drunken driving accident attorneys at Hubbard & Kurtz, LLP are committed to holding alcohol impaired drivers accountable for the injuries that they cause so contact us toll free at (877) 535-1163 to see how we can help!