Alcohol-related crashes are entirely avoidable, but they continue to be a problem in Mississippi. In fact, a captain with the police force recently noted that 162 people in the state were killed in these accidents in 2015. In just December of that year, 6,561 people were hurt in car accidents.
These remarks were made while the police were discussing stepping up their efforts around the holidays. Many accidents happen during the holiday season.
However, the stats remain dire in any season, so it’s important for people to keep them in mind heading into the new year — even after the holidays are over.
The NHTSA notes that 35,092 people were killed in car accidents in 2015, when looking at the stats for the entire country. Nearly a third of them died in wrecks with drivers who were over the legal blood alcohol concentration limit of 0.08. In total, these wrecks accounted for 29 percent of the fatalities, which factors out to 10,265 deaths.
Some accident stats are worse in Mississippi than in most other states. Mississippi is fifth in the country when looking just at deadly accidents involving teens, for example. A total of 78 teens died in wrecks in 2015, and 23 percent of the deaths could be linked back to alcohol as a leading cause.
It’s important to stay safe on the roads of Mississippi this year, and you should remember that you actually have a right to drive safely, without fear of being injured by other drunk drivers. If someone gets behind the wheel with a BAC over 0.08 and violates this right, you may then be able to seek compensation.
Source: The Meridian Star, “Mississippi police step up drunk-driving enforcement,” Whitney Downard, Dec. 21, 2016
