Residents in West Virginia know that when they accept a driver’s license that they also accept a significant responsibility with that privilege. The responsibility to operate a vehicle safely is one that should be taken highly seriously. Sadly, there remain many drivers who refuse to do that. Drunk drivers are one example of these types of people. While there does appear to be some good news for residents in West Virginia, there remains room for improvement.
According to records provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, drunk drivers were responsible for 84 deaths across the state in 2014, representing a whopping 31% of the state’s total vehicular fatalities that year. Over the next four consecutive years, the state has seen the percent of drunk driving deaths relative to total traffic deaths decline every single year. In 2015, alcohol was a stated factor in 27% of all deaths followed by a drop to 25% in 2016 and another drop to 23% in 2017. Finally, in 2018, drunk drivers were involved in 19% of all traffic deaths.
The state of West Virginia does have an ignition interlock program, but Car and Driver magazine recently reported on the potential danger of these systems as they have been found to contribute to distracted driving accidents.
If you would like to learn more about how you may seek the right level of assistance after you or a loved one has been involved in an accident caused by a negligent drunk driver, please feel free to visit the impaired vehicle crash compensation page of our West Virginia motor vehicle accident and personal injury website.
