Impaired Driving Prevention Month Looks to Curb Holiday Accidents

Dec 12
08:26

2012

Paul E Lee

Paul E Lee

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National Impaired Driving Prevention Month looks to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol, drugs.

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For the fourth year in a row,Impaired Driving Prevention Month Looks to Curb Holiday Accidents Articles the federal government has declared December as the National Impaired Driving Prevention Month, hoping to continue to raise awareness about the dangers associated with not only driving under the influence of alcohol, but of drugs as well. Despite an encouraging drop in accident fatalities over the last several years as a result of awareness campaigns like this, accidents involving drug impaired drivers has been on the rise for the last several years.

As a time for travel and celebration, the holiday season is the perfect time to highlight the dangers of impaired driving, given the number of people who will be taking to the road to visit family, take vacations, and toast to the New Year. According to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, more than 32,000 people were killed in accidents in 2010, with 31% (10,228) coming from accidents involved impaired drivers, and the month of December alone saw almost 2,600 killed, with 775 deaths resulting from drivers under in the influence.

While drunk driving has long been a target for national awareness campaigns, drugged driving has received less attention, despite a rise in fatal accident totals. Over the last six years, fatal accidents totals have risen by more than 6%, and according to the NHTSA’s Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 1 in 3 drivers who were killed in a motor vehicle crash in 2010 tested positive for drugs, whether over the counter and prescription drugs, or illicit drugs. In 2011, more than 9.4 million drivers (3.7% of the national population) admitted to driving under the influence of drugs during the past year. Despite being an overall drop from the 4.2% of drivers in 2009 and 2010, numbers are still a cause for concern, and accidents are on the rise.

As a part of the overall plan to raise awareness and limit the threat of accidents, the NHTSA will again roll out its annual awareness campaign called “Drunk Driving: Over the Limit. Under Arrest”, in which local police departments across the country will step up patrols and set up sobriety checkpoints on heavy traffic weekends to catch impaired drivers before they have the chance to cause an accident. California has also recently passed a new bill to be enacted in 2014 that would allow for the differentiation of being under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or a combination of both.

In 2010, more than 1.4 million drivers were arrested for impaired driving in 2010, and in California, the number of persons arrested for driving under the influence of drugs is actually higher than that of drivers under the influence of alcohol. Under the current law, these drivers are all placed into the same category of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol. With a more detailed system of classification, it will become easier to chart the frequency of drugged driving accidents, and take steps to inflict punishments that more accurately represent the crime.

Federal safety organizations and law makers alike are hopeful that continued awareness campaigns like December’s Impaired Driving Prevention Month will adequately convey the message of the dangers of impaired driving. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly 30 people are killed in accidents caused by drivers under the influence or either drugs or alcohol each day, and hundreds more are injured. For those suffering through the damaging aftereffects of an accident, there are legal protections in place to help victims get what they need to recover. Through the help of a highly trained car accident lawyer, compensation can be earned from drugged and drunken drivers to help them repair the damages that they’ve sustained and move on into the future.