For the past five years, the Ohio Highway Patrol (OHP) has increased efforts to prevent impaired driving accidents, which allowed it to remove 24,000 impaired drivers from Ohio roads.
Unfortunately, there is still work to be done, as there were 14,420 impaired driving crashes in Ohio last year, resulting in 423 deaths and 8,785 injuries. Impaired driving accidents accounted for 37 percent of fatal crashes in Ohio in 2016.
People can help prevent impaired driving by designating a sober driver if they plan to drink and encouraging their friends and family members to do the same, says Lieutenant Shaun Robinson of the OHP.
Call #677 if you spot an impaired driver, drug activity or stranded drivers.
Impaired Driving Across The US
The success of Ohio’s crackdown on drunk driving is a good sign as law enforcement agencies around the nation work to prevent drunk driving and catch impaired drivers.
Nationwide, approximately 28 people die each day in alcohol-related accidents, which equates to one fatality every 53 minutes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
In 2014, there were 9,967 fatalities from alcohol-related accidents, which represented one-third of the nation’s traffic deaths that year.
Strategies To Prevent Drunk Driving
Sobriety checkpoints are proving effective in the fight against impaired driving. Checkpoints manned by officers assessing drivers for impairment are shown to lower alcohol-related accidents by around nine percent.
Ignition interlocks, which prevent vehicles from operating when the driver’s blood alcohol concentration is above a safe limit, are lowering re-arrest rates among formerly convicted drunk drivers by 70 percent.
Were you injured in an automobile accident caused by an impaired driver? The car accident injury lawyers of O’Connor, Acciani & Levy will work to hold negligent drivers accountable and recover fair compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering.