Drunk drivers present a serious danger to other drivers on the road. When people are drunk, they lack impulse control and the motor skills necessary to safely drive from one place to another. Drunk drivers are often to blame for serious and fatal car accidents.
Recently, a man in Roanoke, Virginia, was sentenced on drunk driving charges. The 40-year-old man was sentenced to eight years in prison as a result of an accident that happened last year. His blood alcohol content level was well above the legal limit at the time of the accident.
According to reports, the man was driving the wrong way on I-81 when the accident occurred. His car smashed into another car head-on as he drove in the wrong lane.
The other car was driven by a 17-year-old boy. The 17-year-old suffered serious injuries in the accident, including torn arteries in his heart, a concussion, a ruptured spleen, broken bones and dislocated vertebrae. He apparently suffers from nerve damage as a result of the accident. The driver’s 14-year-old sister was also in the car at the time of the accident. The girl suffered from injuries as well. In addition to the prison sentence, the driver was also sentenced to $7,500 in fines and over $10,000 in restitution payments.
While criminal sentences can help to deter drunk drivers from repeating their bad behavior, criminal punishments often do not address the serious needs of drunk driving accident victims. Victims in these situations may have the right to bring a civil lawsuit against a drunk driver. In a civil lawsuit, people can seek compensation for all of the expenses that arise from an accident caused by a drunk driver.
Source: WDBJ, “Roanoke man sentenced for drunk-driving crash that injured three on I-81,” Oct. 27, 2015