Drink Driving and accident rates among drivers

Drink driving and accident rates among drivers

According to the official statistics, the number of casualties as a result of auto accidents has increased slightly over the last few years. This means that many drivers, despite all the warnings, are still not taking road safety as seriously as we all would like. Alarmingly, it turns out that young drivers who are aged between

17 and 19 represent more than 10% of drivers who were killed or suffered an accident injury due to an auto accident, even though they represent less than 2% of the total number of drivers with licenses in the United Kingdom.

There are many different reasons that lead to car accidents and unfortunately it seems that drink-driving is still one of the most common ones. What is even more worrying is that last year the number of drivers who have confirmed that they were involved in drink-driving as drivers or passengers remained more or less the same so we’ve seen no improvement in this area at all, despite the shock TV ad campaigns that have been used.

According to some stats, about 20% of drivers confirm that they believe or know for sure that they have driven with excessive amount of alcohol in their blood at least once in the last year. This is actually a small increase in the figures compared to the previous year.

Once again, if we look at the age of drivers involved in drink-driving it is notable that most of them are young motorists. One in four young drivers said that they knew that they have driven with excessive amount of alcohol in their blood in the last twelve months. At the same time, the vast majority of these drivers driving under influence are males. It’s worth mentioning that the Government has closely monitored this development and this is the reason why they have introduced new and stricter penalties for both drink-driving and drug-driving.

Even though the general public is clearly most concerned when statistics are focused on fatalities caused by drink driving, the fact is that car accidents caused by drink or drug driving often result in injuries that can be devastating to the individuals involved and their families. There are cases of non fault accidents too, but in most cases one of the sides will have taken full or partial responsibility. We should not forget that the police report is often crucial in this process.

With regard to car accident claims, there are many different injuries caused by car accidents, but the most common ones that we tend to see for making a claim include chest injuries, back injuries, head injuries and whiplash claims. It’s also worth pointing out that if it wasn’t for drink driving incidents, the accident rates among drivers would have been significantly lower so this at least is an encouraging sign. It just illustrates even stronger why every driver should be careful when it comes to alcohol consumption, the statistics don’t lie…

If you have been involved in an accident with a drunk driver and believe that you have a valid claim, please give One Call Accident Management a call now on 0800 999 4042  to discuss your case with us.

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