San Francisco Injury Lawyer Blog

California Highway Patrol issued their Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System (SWITRS) report for 2006 which included statistics for car accidents involving alcohol. During 2006, there were:

• 1,420 fatal collisions involving alcohol, and 20,912 injury collisions.


• 1,597 people were killed in such collisions and 31,099 people were injured.


• 48.2% of the parties who were killed or injured in alcohol related accidents were determined to have been drinking.


• 51.8% of the drivers or passengers who were killed were not drinking.


• The majority of movements preceding the collision were when the vehicle was proceeding straight, followed by when the vehicle ran off the road, and when making a left turn.


• The majority of drivers in fatal collisions who were under the influence were in the age range of 21 to 24 years old.


• Those drivers under the influence who were injured in alcohol related collisions were also primarily in the 21 to 24 year age range.


• Most of the accidents occurred on Saturdays and Sundays between 2:00 and 3:00 a.m.

Sadly, an example of the fatality of drunk driving occurred this past week. A man driving his Toyota Highlander the wrong way on Interstate 280 collided with an Acura on Thursday morning, December 11, 2008. The driver of the Toyota only suffered minor cuts and injuries to his head and arm while a passenger in the Acura died at the scene. CHP officials determined that the Toyota driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

The joy of the holidays may loosen people up, and make them less aware of the dangers of driving on the road while intoxicated. Holidays, such as New Year’s Eve, and other such festivities bring about such fatalities and injuries as noted above. If you or a family member has been injured by a drunk driver, you may be able to recover monetary damages if there is negligence of recklessness involved. Those drunk drivers may be charged criminally, but also may be liable civilly. To find out if you have a lawsuit, call Greenberg & Rudman LLP now at 1-800-252-9776 (1-800-ALAWPRO) and learn about your rights. Our website, www.alawpro.com, also contains more information about wrongful death claims and negligence lawsuits.