2-Year-Old Injured, Mother Killed by Drunk Driver
A 2-year-old girl was left with a large scar across her forehead following a drunk driving accident that killed her mother in Harris County on Jan. 8. The drunk driver was also killed as a result of the crash. This crash is part of a 37% increase in crashes seen in Harris County during the pandemic.
Details of the Car Accident
A tragedy befell a young girl and her family on Jan. 8 when a drunk driver collided with the vehicle occupied by herself and her mother. Unfortunately, this loss followed a series of COVID-19 deaths suffered by the family.
The mother and daughter were traveling down S. Main near Pin Oak Drive when a drunk driver collided head-first with their vehicle. As a result of the crash, both the mother and drunk driver were killed. The 2-year-old girl, who was left badly injured following the crash, will reportedly be raised by her aunt who urged Texans not to drink and drive, or to hire a rideshare service or find a sober friend to drive you home if they do.
Drunk Driving in Texas Car Accidents
According to Car Insurance Comparison, Texas ranks tenth in the country for drunk driving compared to other states. This is actually one of Texas’s better rankings when it comes to roadway safety. While being in the top ten isn’t ideal, given Texas’ size and overall record, it seems as though Texas’s drunk driving problem is slowly being addressed.
In fact, according to the FBI , Texas consistently ranks second in the country for arrests related to driving under the influence, usually between 60,000 and 70,000 per year. This can be seen as both a good and bad sign: more arrests being made means fewer drunk-drivers on the road, but more arrests also may mean that there are more drunk drivers on the roads in Texas in the first place.
In either case, Texas’s record on drunk driving has improved over time in some ways. For instance, while the overall number of drunk driving accidents has increased, the number of fatalities associated with those crashes has actually fallen significantly over the past decade. In 2010, 1,074 people died in drunk driving accidents. In comparison, only 886 people died in drunk driving accidents in Texas in 2019. In fact, between 2017 and 2019, drunk driving fatalities dropped by more than 15%.
Still, it’s important to keep in mind that an accident doesn’t need to cause a fatality in order to be serious. While most types of injuries associated with drunk driving crashes have decreased, the rate of those involved in drunk driving crashes who sustained possible injuries has increased. This means that the issue of drunk driving itself has yet to be fully addressed in the state of Texas.
If you or a loved one have been injured in a drunk driving accident in Texas, contact the Houston car accident attorneys of Lapeze & Johns for help with your claim for the compensation you may be owed.
Source : ABC 13
