Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog
Police are always looking for creative ideas for public service campaigns to curb drunk driving. One of the reasons for this is drunk driving often results in serious personal injury and lost lives of innocent people who were not driving drunk.
According to a recent news feature from News 6 South Florida, Miami police have come up with a creative idea of their own to warn people about the dangers of drunk driving. The police have taken a standard marked police car with full lights and sirens and painted the rear half of the vehicle to look like an ordinary yellow taxicab.
The police car also features a warning that tells people they should choose their ride home after a night of drinking, in that they can take a cab and get home safe or they can drive drunk and risk getting a ride in a patrol car on their way to a holding cell after being arrested for drunk driving. Police say the car is designed to literally show people the choice they face for how they will end their night.
While our Boston drunk driving accident attorneys hope this anti-drunk driving campaign is effective and reduces the number of drunk driving arrests and drunk driving accidents in that jurisdiction, it also highlights one of the more troubling aspects of combating drunk driving.
The problem is people are often worried about the wrong things. When a person drinks to the point of intoxication and then chooses to get behind the wheel, that person is taking serious risks, not only with regard to his or her own personal safety, but the safety of others who are out on the roads and sidewalks of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. However, what they are worried about, if they are worried about anything in their intoxicated state, is getting arrested for drunk driving. This is evident by the many slogans they tell people catchy phrases like “choose your own ride” or “sober or slammer.” These commercials rarely focus on the real tragedy of drunk driving, which is thousands of cases of serious personal injury and deaths.
Researchers suggest that, in the past decade, more people have been killed by drunk drivers in the United States than in all of the nation’s wars to date. This the serious risk – not spending the night in jail or paying more in car insurance following a conviction. However, it is of the last things on a drunk driver’s mind before getting behind the wheel after having too much to drink.
In reality, drunk driving results in untold devastation each year in terms of loss of life, serious personal injury, medical bills, cost of physical therapy and rehabilitation, future medical expenses, lost wages and other types of special damages common in drunk driving crash lawsuits in Massachusetts. In some cases, it is also possible for spouses of car accident victims to file direct claims for what is known a loss of consortium. Loss of consortium involves a couple that is no longer able to engage in a normal marital relationship following a serious personal injury.
If you have been injured in a Boston drunk driving accident, call for a free and confidential appointment at (617) 777-7777.
Additional Resources:
New Patrol Car Aimed at Preventing Drunk Driving , May 29, 2015, News 6 South Florida
More Blog Entries:
Alleged Drunk Driver Crashes into Saugus, Massachusetts Home, Aug. 21, 2014, Boston Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Blog