Early Friday morning, a driver rear ended another car that had rolled over after striking a concrete barrier in Richardson. That driver was ejected from his vehicle on Central Expressway at Midpark and died. The driver who crashed into the stopped car was driving while intoxicated.
Also, on the way from Dallas back home to Fort Worth Saturday night, traffic came to a halt on Interstate 30. This morning, I read that a man driving while intoxicated hit a car near Beach Street, causing another vehicle to roll over, The driver of that car tragically died at the scene and her husband and three children were rushed to the hospital.
And driving to Dallas early that day, traffic was stopped by a major crash in Arlington. In Dallas, I passed another major collision. I passed sign after sign warning that police were arresting drivers for DWI’s, I assume due to the St. Patrick’s Day weekend drunkathon going on all over the Metroplex.
In addition, this morning’s Dallas Morning News reports that early Saturday morning, a Dallas police car that was blocking traffic on I-35 near Loop 812 was hit by a Lexus. Fortunately, no one was injured.
And on Saturday afternoon, a convoy of five buses taking Army boot camp graduates from Oklahoma to Fort Hood on Interstate 35 crashed. Again, it is fortunately that the injuries to eight of the graduates were only minor.
And who knows how many other collisions occurred this weekend here?
Why do we take it for granted that over 38,000 people died and 4.4 million people were seriously injured in car and truck accidents last year? And closer to home, why is Texas the leader in this terrible category with over 4,000 deaths, the most of any state?
What makes this trend even more shocking is how completely preventable it is. Almost every fatal accident could be prevented if drivers took a few easy steps that we only know to do: don’t drink and drive, don’t drive while tired, don’t text or talk and drive, buckle up, watch out for pedestrians and if on a motorcycle, wear a helmet.
Statistics Show What A Major Problem This Is For Us
Drunk driving resulted in 9,967 fatalities, about one-third of all auto accident fatalities.
3,179 people were killed in distracted driving accidents, 10 percent of all accident deaths.
At least 846 people were killed in drowsy driving accidents, 2.6 percent of all accident deaths.
We Must Reverse This Trend
We still have time to take action to avoid deaths on our roadways.
After 35 years as a personal injury lawyer, I have seen too many of these terrible crashes. We can — and must — make our highways safer.