Residents in North Carolina and Virginia have seen their respective states follow the national trend of increasing awareness about the dangers of drunk driving over the last several decades. Advocacy groups like Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, law enforcement agencies, municipalities and more have all launched campaigns designed to encourage drivers to put away their keys if they wish to drink. Sadly, many people continue to die every year at the hands of drunk drivers.
Records from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show that the number of people killed in drunk driving accidents in 2018 were higher than five years previously in both North Carolina and Virginia. In North Carolina, there were 363 vehicular fatalities in 2014 in which alcohol was a contributing factor. That grew to 389 and then to 428 in the two subsequent years. In 2017, the number dropped slightly to 401 but rose again to 428 in 2018, representing 29% of all traffic deaths in the state.
In Virginia, 216 lives were lost in drunk driving accidents in 2014. A slight decline was noted the next year when 205 such deaths occurred, but that was followed by a jump first to 223 and then to 245 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. In 2018, there were 240 traffic fatalities in the state from drunk driving events.
If you would like to learn more about the importance of seeking assistance after you or someone in your family has been involved in a crash caused by a reckless drunk driver, please feel free to visit the impaired accident compensation page of our North Carolina and Virginia personal injury website.
