Three Things To Know During National Drunk and Drugged Driving Month

The month of December has been designated by Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) as National Drunk and Drugged Driving Month.  While it is important to help limit Connecticut auto accidents each month, during the month of December the numbers of incidents that involve drunk or drugged driving increase and it is a good time to remind all drivers of the dangers of driving while intoxicated.

The most important thing you can do to acknowledge this month of awareness is to avoid driving while intoxicated, but there are other things you should know about this month and how it impacts the lives of those around you.  Everytime someone gets behind the wheel while they are intoxicated it puts their life, the lives of their passengers, and anyone sharing the road with them at that time in danger.  

The majority of the increased problem around these types of accidents and fatalities lies during the holiday days on the calendar.  Specifically Christmas Eve and New Years Eve.  To better understand what is happening on these two days it is important to understand the statistics and how they change dramatically in just two days.

1. In 2018, on December 24th (Christmas Eve) and December 31st (New Years Eve) 108 people were killed in drunk or drugged driving accidents.  This equated to nearly half of all traffic related deaths.
2. That same year, 839 people died of auto accident related deaths in the month of December, but between December 24th and December 31st 50% of all traffic related deaths involved drunk or drugged driving.  
3. On Christmas Day alone, 35 people died in a fatal auto accident crash.

These staggering numbers tell a pretty complete story, if you drink or do drugs anytime behind the wheel you are significantly more likely to get into a Connecticut auto accident than if you don’t.  And, if you partake in these risky behaviors between December 24th and December 31st your chances of being killed in this type of crash increases dramatically.

If you or a loved one experienced an injury due to someone who was driving while impaired you may need an attorney for assistance on your case.  Contact our office and one of our experienced attorneys will help protect your long-term interests.