Preventing Drunk Driving Car Accidents in Boston

Drunk driving accidents often result in serious personal injury or death. While the police are out on the roads to find and arrest drunk drivers before they cause an accident, it is difficult for them to catch everyone, and they are often left responding to an accident rather than preventing one, due the vast number of drunk drivers on the road.

Sometimes we are driving, and we see a car that is swerving or weaving, and we assume that driver is drunk or something else is wrong with him or her. A recent article from The Daily Courier discusses what you should do if you see a suspected drunk driver and what you should not do.When you see that suspected drunk driver, the first thing most people will do is call 911.  This is what you should be doing.  However, the emergency dispatch operator will soon ask you information about the vehicle.  He or she will want to know the make and model of the vehicle.  They will want to know where the vehicle is headed and anything else that will help officers catch the suspected drunk driver before he or she causes a serious Boston drunk driving accident and harms himself or herself or others on the road.

As discussed in the article, you face a choice of whether you should continue to follow the car and report information to the police, or whether you should go on your way and hope the police can find the vehicle.  The first thing to realize is that drunk drivers are not going to be driving in a safe and responsible manner.  This is how you were able to detect the person was likely drunk in the first place.  The last thing you want to do is become a drunk driving accident victim. For that reason, if it is not safe to follow the suspect, you should not do so.  A spokesperson for the sheriff’s office interviewed for this article says that you should never violate any traffic laws to follow the vehicle.  You are not a sworn officer who is trained to pursue a vehicle.

When a person is under the influence of alcohol, they cannot safety operate a vehicle and are likely to swerve erratically, stop suddenly, and engage in seemingly odd driving behavior such as waiting at green lights.  Again, you do not want to become a victim to this person’s negligence.

It is, however, possible that the driver is not drunk.  They may be having some type of medical episode, or they may be falling asleep behind the wheel. If this is the case, the officer will be able to conduct a wellness check when he or she comes into contact with the driver.  In any event, they are not driving safely at that moment and should not be behind the wheel.

In terms of a driver who is falling asleep behind the wheel, that is an example of negligent conduct, and if it results in a accident with personal injury, they will likely be held liable just the same as if they had been intoxicated.

If you or someone you love has been injured a Boston drunk driving accident, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.

Additional Resources:

Drunk driver on the road: What should you do?, June 7, 2017, By Scott Orr, The Dailey Courier

More Blog Entries:

Massachusetts Drugged Driving a Serious Problem, Police Say, March 28, 2017, DUI Injury Lawyer Blog