Boston Drunk Driving Accidents

The Fourth of July is a popular holiday for families to gather over the long holiday weekend and celebrate our country’s independence. The Greater Boston area provides an endless list of Fourth of July events to attend over the three-day weekend. We wish you an enjoyable holiday weekend. Please celebrate responsibly and do your part to avoid a drunk driving car accident in Boston or anywhere else in Massachusetts.

According to Fox Business, the Fourth of July is the deadliest time of the year to be on our roadways. Every year, more people die on because of traffic accidents than during any other holiday period. The upcoming holiday weekend will kill more people in drunk driving accidents than even New Year’s Day.

Our Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers urge all motorists to be extra cautious during this Fourth of July weekend. We not only ask you to not drink and drive, but we ask you to be on the lookout for motorists who may be intoxicated behind the wheel. With cooperation from everyone, we may be able to increase safety on our roadways and reduce the number of fatal holiday traffic accidents.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Fourth of July has been the most deadly holiday on our roadways almost every year for the last 25 years. On average, more than 50 percent of all fatal traffic accidents that happen on the Fourth of July are alcohol related.

The most recent traffic accident data for this holiday weekend, which is from two years ago, concludes that 491 people died in car accidents over the three-day Fourth of July weekend. Of these 491 deaths, more than 40 percent of them died as a result of alcohol-impaired driving.

It’s true that most people think that New Year’s Day, or rather late New Year’s Eve, is the most deadly time on our roadways. For this reason, a lot of people stay off our roadways during this time. Most people don’t fear drunk driving accidents as much during the Fourth of July, which is why more motorists turn up on the road during this time.

“Drunk driving is a major public safety threat that still claims thousands of lives every year,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “Many states continue to step up their efforts to get drunk drivers off our roads, but the numbers tell us we have to do more.”

Drunk driving accidents on holiday weekend produced these fatalities in 2009:

-Fourth of July (3-day period): 410 deaths, more than 40 percent alcohol related.

-Labor Day (3-day period): 360 deaths, 38 percent alcohol related.

-Memorial Day (3-day period): 473 deaths, 42 percent alcohol related.

-New Year’s (4-day period): 468 deaths, 40 percent alcohol related
-Thanksgiving (4-day period): 411 deaths, 34 percent alcohol related.

-Christmas (3-day period): 262 deaths, 37 percent alcohol related.

Our Boston drunk driving attorneys wish everyone a safe and happy Fourth of July and ask that you be sure to designate a driver if you’re going to be drinking.

Here’s what you should do if you think you see a drunk driver on our roadways this weekend:

-Try to get the make, model, color and license plate number of the vehicle. Don’t get close to the vehicle to do so. Keep your distance.

-Call police and tell them the vehicle information along with a description of the driver if possible.

-Tell dispatchers the location of the vehicle and the direction it’s headed.

-Let law enforcement handle it from here. They are trained for these situations and ask that you do not take matters into your own hands.

By reporting a drunk driver this holiday weekend you might just be helping to save the life of an innocent motorist.
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Mothers Against Drunk Driving is pushing lawmakers to enact tougher laws in an effort to reduce the number of serious and fatal Massachusetts drunk driving accidents.

22 News reports the organization is pushing for expanded use of ignition interlock devices — which prevent convicted drunk drivers from starting their vehicle until they pass a portable breath test attached to the car. Our Boston car accident lawyers continue to applaud the group’s efforts at preventing these devastating crashes.

The latest statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration show 108 motorists lost their lives in drunk driving accidents in Massachusetts in 2009. Countless others were injured. They are not statistics — but real people with families whose lives were turned upside down by the senseless decision of a driver who climbed behind the wheel after having too much to drink.

“The reason why I do what I do is because my husband, Mike Dean …was killed by a drunk driver in 1991, leaving me a young widow and a grieving mom,” said Laura Dean-Mooney, national president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD). “Our daughter was only 8 months old at the time of his death. There’s many people in Massachusetts that have similar stories to mine.”

MADD ranks Massachusetts 31st in the nation in safety and prevention, noting 32 percent of all fatal traffic crashes involve alcohol. The state has 22,253 drivers who are three-time OUI offenders and 4,840 who have been busted five times.

“In New Mexico, the first state to implement ignition interlocks for all offenders, they’ve had almost a 40% reduction in their alcohol related fatalities,” said Dean-Mooney. “That is significant, that’s a lot of people that are alive today because they’re protected under this ignition interlock law.”

Massachusetts law requires repeat offenders to have ignition interlock devices installed on their cars for two years. MADD wants the law to include first-time offenders, who would be required to have the devices installed on their vehicles for the first six months after their licenses are reinstated.

“I think the thing we know about all repeat offenders is that they were all first offenders once, and our objective is to do something more meaningful with the convicted offender when they are a first offender as opposed to waiting until they become a second, third, fourth, fifth offender,” said David DeIuliis, a MADD Massachusetts spokesperson.

Currently, a revised law is being sponsored by Senator Robert Hedlund, R-Hingham. It awaits hearings in the Joint Committee on Transportation.
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