Causes of Drunk Driving Accidents in Texas

Plano Police investigated two suspected drunk driving incidents in 2021 that caused the death of two people. On May 30, the police investigated an accident at the intersection of Dallas Parkway and West Plano Parkway where the drunk driver allegedly failed to stop at a red light and crashed into another car. The victim was quickly transported to the hospital but soon died.

In an earlier incident on May 27, the police responded to Dallas Parkway and Tennyson Parkway, where an alleged drunk driver also ran a red light and hit two other cars, killing one person in one of the cars.

According to the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), one person is killed in Texas every 8 hours and 31 minutes in a drunk driving-related crash. These are extremely alarming and heartbreaking numbers because these crashes could have been prevented.

What Causes Drunk Driving Accidents?

Drunk driving causes crashes because of the effects of alcohol on brain function. Alcohol decreases brain function and impairs thinking, muscle coordination, and reasoning. All of these abilities are crucial to driving a vehicle safely.

As the level of alcohol rises in the body, its negative impact on the nervous system also increases. It is then directly absorbed through the stomach walls and small intestine, after which it passes into your bloodstream, where it builds up until your liver can metabolize it.

The alcohol level in the body is measured by how much alcohol is in a particular volume of blood. This is known as blood alcohol concentration or BAC. When your BAC is at .08 grams per deciliter (g/dL), the risk of getting into a crash when you drive increases exponentially. Due to alcohol impairment, drivers make mistakes or engage in reckless driving behaviors that wouldn’t otherwise, such as:

Drunk driving can directly cause or contribute to various kinds of accidents, such as head-on collisions, T-bone crashes, rollovers, and rear-end accidents. In addition, alcohol impairment can combine with other hazards and elevate the risk of a crash. For example, a drunk driver driving in harsh weather, like heavy rain, ice, or snow, may drive recklessly and fail to take the necessary safety precautions to avoid an accident.

Seek Legal Guidance From a Skilled Texas Personal Injury Attorney Today

If you were hurt in a crash involving a drunk driver, you may seek compensation in a personal injury claim. If a loved one was killed in a drunk driving-related crash, you could likewise bring a wrongful death suit against the negligent drunk driver. But to win your case, you’ll need to establish the defendant’s intoxication level, prove that their intoxication level was over the legal limit and unsafe for driving, and demonstrate that the defendant didn’t take reasonable steps to ensure other people’s safety.

Contact The Law Office of Joel Vecchio, P.C., for legal advice about your case. Schedule your free consultation with our Texas personal injury attorney by calling 972-380-4444 or contacting us online.