Virginia has no Cities in the Top 20 Worst US Places for Drunk Driving

By John Cooper, Norfolk, VA Accident Injury Attorney

A new study of the U.S. cities with the highest number of drunk drivers has been published by Insurance.com and the good news for Virginia (VA) is that it has no cities in the top 20.

California dominates again with four big-city DUI locations making the top 20 in a study based on DUI citations from Nov. 1, 2010, to Oct. 31, 2011.

San Diego is again ranked as the city with the highest number of DUIs, proportionate to population, while Los Angeles is ranked second and San Francisco is fifth.

Peter Moraga, spokesman for the Insurance Information Network of California told Insurance.com, California appears to lead in DUI citations because it’s a “car-centric state,” where police are “very attuned to the danger of driving under the influence.”

Over the holidays when considerable amounts of alcohol are consumed, law enforcement agencies are highlighting the dangers of driving after drinking alcohol, while stepping up enforcement efforts.

See this anti drink driving video.

Nationally in 2009, about a third all accident fatalities – equating to 11,000 victims – occurred in crashes that involved a driver with a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The FBI say nationally there were 1.4 million DUI arrests in 2010.

The positive news is a 2010 study by the NHTSA found the number of alcohol related fatalities on the roads fell in 32 states compared to 2009 including California and Virginia (VA) which saw a 13 percent decrease. But the number of deaths linked to drunken driving rose by more than 8 percent in North Carolina (NC).

As Norfolk-based accident injury attorneys who specialize in helping the victim of drunk drivers, we welcome the fall in deaths in Virginia (VA) but respond to these statistics with caution because there are still too many DUI related deaths on the roads of Virginia (VA) cities such as Norfolk, Portsmouth and Newport News, VA.

For instance, in December 2011 a wrong way driver was accused of causing the deaths of two students from Christopher Newport University while under the influence of alcohol, on the I-64 in Newport News, VA.

There were 211 alcohol related driving fatalities in Virginia in 2010, according to NHTSA, which is 211 lives too many that were squandered on the highways of the Commonwealth.

DM

The Norfolk based personal injury law firm, Cooper Hurley, handles car, truck, and motorcycle injuries. John Cooper and Jim Hurley have over 40 years of combined experience in handling auto injury accident claims. Attorney John Cooper has been named to Virginia “Super Lawyers” since 2010. Cooper Hurley represents people hurt in accidents in Norfolk, Virginia Beach, Portsmouth, Suffolk, Chesapeake, Hampton, Newport News and throughout VA, and always put the best interests of the our clients first.. The firm is recognized by other lawyers as “AV” by Martindale-Hubbell, a national attorney rating service, for our top level of legal skill and highest ethical standards. If you need help or advice about a serious injury, please call us ( 757) 455 -0077. For a free consultation with a specialized Hampton Roads, Virginia personal injury lawyer contact us through this website.