Two Children Endangered as Mother Drives Drunk
Every day, approximately 32 people in the country die as a result of alcohol-related crashes (Center for Disease Control and Prevention). In a survey conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, it was reported that from the total number of 30,797 fatal crash incidents in 2009, 32 percent or 9,813 were due to alcohol-impaired driving.
In Arizona, 28 percent or 196 fatal crashes from 710 were because of alcohol impairment. There were also 219 alcohol-related fatalities, 22 of these fatalities being of those under 21. Moreover, it was revealed that most DUI accidents occurred from 9 p.m. to 11:59 p.m. and 3 a.m. to 5:59 a.m. in 2009.
On Saturday night, a car driven by a 34-year old woman crashed near 45th Street and Baseline Avenue. Police said that the woman was drunk while driving the car with her children before the crash. She fled the scene with her youngest child but left her 8-year old son at the scene injured.
The woman was later found hiding in an apartment complex. Police also said she was driving on a suspended license. She was booked into jail for four felony counts namely: aggravated DUI, aggravated DUI with a passenger under 15, failure to stay at the scene, and endangerment.
2009 saw a greater amount of DUI arrests in Arizona, equalling over 14,000, as compared to the year before with only 10,500. This is the result of the extensive campaign against alcohol-impaired drivers on the roads who often pose dangers to everyone. While the greater number of arrests may seem like a bad thing, it doesn’t necessarily mean there were more people on the road driving drunk; it means the authorities were able to catch more drivers all together.
For victims of drunken driving accidents, we are available at (602) 267-1280 to answer your questions always. Don’t hesitate to call us for a free consultation; we believe that one way to help stop these accidents is by holding alcohol impaired drivers responsible for their actions.
