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Auto Accidents and Alcohol: Virginia Crash Statistics

The Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles collects traffic accident statistics that are published to their website every year. Below are the most recent statistics available on Virginia crashes involving alcohol, which are from 2008.

General Virginia Drunken Driving Facts

• Overall there were a total of 10,294 alcohol-related crashes, which accounted for 7.6 percent of all crashes
• 354 people were killed in alcohol-related accidents
• 43 percent of all traffic fatalities involved alcohol
• 7,000 people were injured in alcohol related crashes
• 10 percent of all injuries can be attributed to alcohol

Age of Drivers Caught Drinking

• Under 15 – 4
• Ages 15 through 20 – 1,167
• Ages 21 through 30 – 3,997
• Ages 31 through 40 – 1,952
• Ages 41 through 50 – 1,713
• Ages 51 through 60 – 869
• Ages 61 through 70 – 245
• Over 70 – 114
• Unknown – 227

How Intoxicated Drivers Cause Crashes

The Virginia alcohol-related crash statistics don’t provide much information about why drunk drivers cause crashes. There is a breakdown of what happened when an intoxicated driver crashed, but a full 53.41 percent of drivers give a reason of “other”. Of the remaining reasons, here are the top six:

• Hit and Run – 998 drivers (9.80 percent)
• Speeding – 976 drivers (9.58 percent)
• No Violation – 618 (6.07 percent)
• Following Too Close – 439 drivers (4.31 percent)
• Failure to Yield – 385 drivers (3.78 percent)
• Driver Distraction – 264 drivers (2.59 percent)

Physical Issues of Intoxicated Drivers

The majority of drivers (5,941 or 64.1 percent) found drinking and driving had no physical issues accompanying their drinking. Another 2,689 fall into the nebulous “other” category as far as physical issues. The small remaining percentage of drivers with a physical issue is split between four categories:

• Fatigued driver – 258 (2.8 percent)
• Driver apparently asleep – 204 (2.2 percent)
• Driver has physical defect – 155 (1.7 percent)
• Driver was ill – 22 (0.2 percent)

If you need help after being involved in an alcohol-related accident, then you need to contact the experienced DUI attorneys at Weisberg & Zaleski. Please call our Norfolk based office to discuss your case confidentially for no cost or obligation.

Weisberg & Zaleski, P.C.

112 College Place

Norfolk, VA 23510

Toll Free: (800) 690-0235

Phone: (757) 622-7740

Fax: (757) 533-9223

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