Our Atlanta car accident attorneys are glad Georgia has a new campaign to stop drunk driving. Too many people, especially young people, are seriously injured or killed by DUIs on our roads. Last Friday, Georgia started the “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Overcampaign statewide. The campaign runs through Labor Day. It will include a high-visibility enforcement campaign to curb alcohol-impairment as the summer ends. In 2010, more than 10,000 people died in the US in crashes involving an impaired driver, the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety said in a statement. That year, Georgia had 298 alcohol-related highway fatalities, one-quarter of all traffic deaths.
Reducing Drunk Driving Crashes
“We know campaigns like this help reduce drunk driving crashes by as much as 20 percent, so we’re using Labor Day to reinforce the zero tolerance policy that exists in Georgia 365 days a year,said the Highway Safety office’s director, Harris Blackwood. The office said Georgians should expect to see a lot more law enforcement on the roads in the lead up to Labor Day weekend.
Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over
Georgia is not alone in this end of summer crackdown, either. Areas throughout the nation will be participating in their own “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over” campaign. David Strickland, the administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said that this time of year sees some of the highest incidents of drunk driving and related crashes.
The need for this kind of crackdown and campaign was apparent over the weekend when another Georgia teenager was involved in an alcohol-related crash, leaving him in critical condition. Jacob O’Hern, a 19-year-old from Thomas County, drove his car into a ditch. The car struck the embankment, vaunted and then overturned. It ended up on its left side in the road. He is in the ICU at Archbold Memorial Hospital in Thomasville, Georgia, with severe head and spinal injuries. Emergency room physician Dr. Arch McNeill says at least half of all car accidents he sees are related to alcohol.
Dr. McNeill says alcohol makes people less risk-averse, so driving 80 miles per hour down a curvy road seems like no problem. He said it is particularly a problem for young people. “They’re not used to being intoxicated number one and number two they are not as experienced in driving so it’s a double problem for the younger generation.
The Georgia State Police officer who dealt with Mr. O’Hern’s crash, Cpl. Jeromy Roberts, said, “Driving under the influence is a huge issue in all of the counties we work. We’re aggressive. We look for it. We ask the hard questions and when we find the answers to those questions, we take them to jail.
Atlanta Georgia Car Accident Lawyers Can Help
If you or a loved one has been involved in an accident with a drunk driver, the experienced Atlanta car accident attorneys at Van Sant Law, LLC can assist you in moving forward with your case. Call us today at (800) 234-9556, or fill out our confidential online case evaluation form.