Driving drunk can have a serious, long-lasting effect on all those involved. Most people who drink and drive do not think about the consequences until it is too late. The most frequent crime committed in this country is <a rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= >drunk driving</a>. Someone in the United States is injured every two minutes or killed every thirty minutes by a drunk driver.

Three out of every ten Americans will be involved in a drunk driving accident sometime in their lives. Over 18,000 people die in alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents each year. Over 40% of motor vehicle accident fatalities are alcohol-related and over twenty-five per cent of all teenage related motor vehicle accident fatalities involve alcohol. The aftermath of a drunk driving accident is long-lasting and costly. The legal costs can include jail time, fines, driver license suspension and other criminal penalties for the drunk driver and severe injuries and even death for the innocent victims.

The Costs of Driving Drunk

Alcohol-related motor vehicle accidents in the United States cost over fifty billion dollars every year. Drunk drivers have affected millions of lives, so it is essential to seek legal advice to learn about your rights when a drunk driver affects your life.

When alcohol is involved in a motor vehicle accident it is considered an aggravating factor. That is why someone who pleads guilty or is found guilty of drunk driving should receive a harsher sentence. When you are a victim of a drunk driving accident, it is important to know who is liable for the accident. The obvious answer is the drunk driver. In some instances, the party or parties who supplied the alcohol may also be held liable. This is referred to as “dram shop liability”. Therefore, you may have multiple claims to file. An <a rel="nofollow" onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href= >experienced drunk driving accident attorney</a> will be able to make certain you obtain the maximum amount of compensation you are entitled to.

Drunk drivers may also be subject to criminal charges. Some states offer programs to reimburse crime victims when a drunk driver does not have liability insurance. Your attorney will help you recover losses from these programs that offer assistance to victims of drunk drivers.

Drunk drivers and the chaos they cause are responsible for enormous amounts of pain and suffering.