In the United States, there is nothing more dangerous than driving in a car. Now, obviously, there are some extreme scenarios that anyone can think up that could be more dangerous like being trapped in a burning house or having to deal with a gun that is loaded. However, in terms of the average life of an America, being in a car is a dangerous place to be as you can get into an accident at any turn or place.

First and foremost it is important to understand that driving in and of itself is dangerous without any distractions or alcohol. However, once alcohol, drugs, and distractions are placed into this mix it instantly jumps in terms of danger. People driving sober can lead to a car crash from simply speeding, not paying attention, or using a cellphone but obviously, drunk driving makes everything inherently more dangerous. Here are the facts on drunk driving.

Before there is even a discussion as to why drunk driving is so dangerous it is important to lay out the facts. Right now, over 37,000 people in the United States will die in road crashes each year according to the Association for Safe International Road Travel. Across the globe as well there are more than half of all road traffic deaths that involve someone amongst the young adult’s ages of 15 and 44.

In the year of 2015 in the United States, there are more than 30,000 fatal motor vehicle crashes. In 2014, there were about 92,000 motorcyclists injured and this number managed to decrease by the year of 2015 when only 88,000 motorcyclists were injured. In the year of 2013, just about 14% of all traffic deaths and nearly 4% of all people injured were comprised of motorcyclists as well. This does not even really get into the idea of how many people are hurt by drunk driving.

All pedestrians over the age of 65 managed to comprise for just about 20% of all pedestrian deaths and an estimated percentage of 13% of all pedestrians injuries in the year of 2015. Drunk driving laws do not change from state to state but traffic laws do. Keep in mind that in Oregon, traffic laws have stated that if a vehicle is moving in traffic then a turn signal must be used at least 100 feet before a turn or a lane change.

It is also important to know that driving distracted is believed to be just as dangerous as drunk driving. In order to understand this concept, there is no need to look any further than the new laws being drafted and implemented every year in which police officers are trying to crack down on distracted driving. There are now officers that are driving in unmarked cars just to try and spot people who are texting and driving.

These types of efforts have truly helped cut down the dangers of distracted driving. In 2015, nearly 3.8% of all drivers were using smartphones or other electronic devices while driving but by the year of 2016, that number was cut down to 3.3%. However, cracking down on drunk driving has been a little more difficult for law enforcement officers. It is important to know this if you need a wrongful death lawsuit, a personal injury lawyer, or personal injury attorneys.

In the year of 2015, almost 1 million drivers were arrested because they were drunk driving or were driving under the influence of dangerous narcotics. It is important to know as well that drugs other than alcohol were involved in nearly 16% of all car crashes. So not only is drunk driving dangerous, but there are even dangers that stem from people who are on drugs and distracted while driving.

In Conclusion

More often than not accidents that involve drunk driving result in personal injury cases. Understand that 95% of all personal injury cases are settled before they even go to trial. It is important to keep this mind because if anyone is injured in an accident caused by drunk driving, they could get a large sum of money from a settlement before it goes to trial.