Are drunk driving accidents a threat to your personal safety? If you act responsibly and refrain from drinking and driving, you may think that you do not need to concern yourself with impaired and drunk driving statistics because you will never be a victim of such a crash. That thinking is incredibly dangerous though as thousands of innocent victims are harmed in Arizona annually by the actions of another driver, like a drunk driver, and those innocent victims did nothing to bring about the harm.
The Arizona Department of Transportation reports that more than 250 people lose their lives each year in drunk driving related accidents. That averages out to one death every 18 hours spread over the year. Some of these unfortunate victims are in the same car as an impaired driver while others may be in a separate vehicle; yet some may be pedestrians, bicyclists, or even motorcyclists. When a crash claims the life of someone, that victim’s family members are the ones left behind to pick up the pieces and attempt to move beyond the crash and onward with their lives.
Laws in the Phoenix area apply to help these victims and their family members by enabling them to bring a civil claim for relief against an at-fault driver and/or a driver’s insurance company. A typical claim seeks payment for the medical expenses incurred by a victim, time that person was forced to miss from work, pain and suffering that was endured, and any other losses that happened. When someone is killed, the right to seek relief may belong to that person’s surviving family members and those family members may be entitled to relief for the loss of companionship they experience due to the crash. Though no amount of money will ever be adequate to right those wrongs, payment can help a family recover from the financial hardship imposed following a collision.
Now, it appears that alcohol may have played a role in a devastating car crash in Tucson on Monday morning. Police confirmed that the collision involved one car near the intersection of 6th Street and Country Club and that multiple people lost their lives. It appears that the driver of the vehicle lost control, sending the car off the road’s surface and into the median where it collided with a palm tree. Emergency crews were on the scene to help the injured but tragically two women in their 20s and a man in his 20s were killed. One of the women was pregnant and her unborn child also died as a result of the car accident.
The driver of the vehicle survived and was transported to an area hospital for treatment. Authorities have not yet released the results of any blood alcohol tests but have reported that alcohol is suspected. It is not known whether anyone else was inside the car at the time of the accident.
If you have been involved in a car crash in Phoenix, including one involving a drunk driver, you may be entitled to financial payment and the personal injury attorneys at Abels & Annes, P.C. want to help you receive it. We offer a free, no obligation case consultation to those who call us toll free at (855) PHX-LAWYER or locally at (602) 819-5191 and everything discussed will be kept confidential.
If we handle your case, we will not charge you a fee unless we successfully make a recovery on your behalf and we advance all case-related costs. If you have questions, are looking for representation, or otherwise need guidance, call one of our attorneys today and let Abels & Annes, P.C. get to work for you.
Prior Blog Entry:
Blown Tire Suspected Cause of Arizona Rollover Accident, Phoenix Injury Lawyer Blog, published July 27, 2105.
Resource:
Tucson Police ID 4 killed in single car crash, including unborn child, by Steve Nunez, News 4 Tucson, published July 27, 2105.