West Chester, PA Drunk Driving Accidents

Impaired driving is one of the most serious problems plaguing Pennsylvania roads. Despite tons of public safety initiatives, harsher penalties for impaired drivers, and other efforts to bring accident rates down, drunk drivers continue to get behind the wheel at an alarming rate. Unfortunately, this results in accidents far too often.

When you’re involved in a drunk driving accident in West Chester, it is crucial to learn more about your legal options and protect your best interests. Call Kingbird Legal at 484-289-4880 to set up a consultation with our personal injury team right away.

The Drunk Driving Epidemic

It’s no secret that the impaired driving problem is out of control in the United States. Per the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, approximately 37 people die in drunk driving accidents every single day. That’s over 13,000 preventable deaths every year and more than 13,000 families left traumatized and changed forever. 

While drunk driving can occur at any time of day and at any point during the week, it is certainly more common later at night and on weekends. Pennsylvania, like many other states, sees drunk driving accidents spike during holidays where celebrations are common. This means that some of the happiest days of the year, including Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the Fourth of July, are forever marred by tragedy due to impaired drivers.

How Alcohol Affects Safe Driving

Alcohol affects the brain in a number of ways, all of them negative. Each of these effects targets your safe driving abilities in a different way, leaving you less able to operate in a safe and predictable manner. The more alcohol a driver has in their system, the more their central nervous system begins to relax and slow down. 

This results in slower reaction times, impaired judgment, and a limited ability to identify and respond to danger. Furthermore, imbibing also affects your motor skills and coordination. As a result, even if an impaired driver is able to identify an obstacle in the road, they may not physically be able to respond to it.

The legal limit in Pennsylvania is .08, which is the same in almost every other part of the United States. However, this does not mean that driving at lower levels of impairment is safe; people with BAC levels below this limit can still be cited for drunk driving if they are driving unsafely.

Consequences of Impaired Driving Collisions

The consequences of drunk driving accidents are myriad. To start, these accidents are often far more severe than car accidents that do not involve drunk drivers. Why? When a driver notices that an accident is imminent, they do whatever they can to avoid it. 

They may swerve out of the way, hit the brakes, or otherwise try to take corrective action. In many impaired driving accidents, drunk drivers do not take this step. Because of their impairment, they do not realize that they are in danger or that they are about to cause a crash. Because of this, they don’t take corrective action that could mitigate the damage of the crash. Everyone involved absorbs the full force of the collision.

Additionally, drunk drivers are more likely to make grave errors that result in more severe accidents. Consider, for example, wrong-way accidents. These accidents are very rare because an individual has to be very confused or misdirected to drive on the wrong side of the road. That’s why impaired driving is present in a shocking amount of wrong-way accidents. 

Drunk drivers take this risk, either not knowing that they are driving the wrong way or underestimating the risks they are taking. Wrong-way accidents tend to result in very serious outcomes, often causing fatal or catastrophic injuries to innocent occupants.

In most car accidents, criminal charges aren’t an issue. This isn’t the case with impaired drivers. Not only do impaired drivers have to consider the civil legal issues they’ll face—since they’ll almost certainly be sued by the victims of their negligence—but they also have to accept the fact that the state will likely bring charges against them.

Liability and Compensation

When one driver is impaired in a collision, it is much easier for the other party to prove liability. Liability comes down to each party’s obligation to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of others and avoid crashes whenever possible. 

The choice to drive while impaired is a clear violation of that obligation and drunk driving arrests can shift liability to the impaired driver from the very beginning. This is why it’s so important to get a copy of the police report after a crash; it will tell you whether or not the other driver was cited or arrested, which can help your attorney build a stronger case against them.

Victims of impaired drivers in West Chester are often entitled to substantial compensation, including money for:

• Medical expenses

• Lost wages and career growth opportunities

• Pain and suffering

• Disability and disfigurement
• Property damage

In some cases, victims are even entitled to punitive damages, which are only awarded when a defendant is so grossly negligent that the court feels forced to punish them for their actions.

How Kingbird Legal Can Help You Fight for Justice

The team at Kingbird Legal understands how devastating an impaired driving accident can be. There’s no justice in the fact that one person’s carelessness and disregard for safety can turn your life upside down, leaving you with injuries, medical bills, and other losses. 

We are committed to holding negligent drivers accountable and helping victims demand the full and fair compensation they deserve. From investigating the crash and calculating your damages to advocating for you during negotiations, you don’t have to go through any of this alone. You can count on our aggressive advocacy and representation throughout the entire process.

Contact Us Today to Start Your Claim

If an impaired driver has derailed your life and left you injured, don’t wait any longer to find out how the team at Kingbird Legal can help you. Call us at 484-289-4880 or get in touch online to claim your free consultation. You don’t have to go through this alone.