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Possible Drunk Driving Crashes on Halloween

By Hess & Nghiem on October 13, 2020

Every American holiday generally involves an overall increase in alcohol consumption. Halloween is no exception, but accidents, injuries, and fatalities are bound to happen when you combine drunk driving with Halloween festivities. If your Halloween becomes scary for the wrong reasons, an experienced attorney can help.

At Hess & Nghiem, we believe the only thing scary on Halloween should be the costumes or the amount of candy your children come home with. Drunk drivers, however, change this dynamic every year. Halloween should be a carefree fun time of year to dress up, spend time with family and friends, and feel festive. For far too many families, this holiday turns into a nightmare that it was never meant to be. 

Instead of spending time with family, they end up saying their final goodbyes or standing vigil at a hospital bedside. Instead of feeling festive, they are fraught with grief or worry. Instead of dressing up, they are worried about how they will pay medical or funeral bills and reaching out for help from Santa Ana personal injury lawyers.

Frightening Halloween Drunk Driving Statistics

If you think drunk driving on Halloween isn’t a big deal, consider the following frightening statistics that will make you think twice:

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, on Halloween night each year between 2013-2017:

  • 158 victims died in drunk-driving accidents
  • 42 percent traffic fatalities involved at least one drunk driver

On Halloween night in 2017 alone, 11 motor vehicle occupants and three pedestrians lost their lives in drunk-driving crashes. Each one of these was preventable deaths had someone decided not to get behind the wheel of a car after drinking.

Causes for Drunk Driving Accidents on Halloween

Santa Ana drunk driving accident victim attorneys know that drunk driving and Halloween are deadly combinations. Even if a driver hasn’t been partaking in alcohol on Halloween, the risk of an accident happening is higher than at other times of the year. Alcohol clouds judgment, decreases reaction times, alters vision, decreases visual tracking abilities, reduces coordination, and causes drowsiness. Disaster can result when you combine the effects of alcohol with Halloween road-use factors such as:

  • Increased pedestrian traffic
  • Nighttime and decreased lighting
  • The distraction of people walking in costumes
  • Distracted children who are focused on trick or treating

Pedestrian collisions with cars happen on and around Halloween across the nation than any other time of year. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that children are more than twice as likely to be hit and killed by a car on Halloween than on any other day of the year. Drunk drivers only add to the severity of this sad statistic.

Santa Ana Personal injury Lawyers Are Here for You

If another driver turned your joyful memories into a catastrophic nightmare by drinking and driving on Halloween or any other time of year, we are here for you. We will investigate the accident, protect your rights, and hold drunk drivers liable for the damages they cause. Schedule a drunk driving accident case review today with experienced Santa Ana personal injury attorneys at Hess & Nghiem. Call (657) 333-5726 or connect with us online today.

Posted in: Car Accidents

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