Oregon Drunk Driving Crash Statistics

Across the country, drunk driving is a serious public health issue. Despite the many taxi and rideshare services, the presence of public transportation, and people generally having a cell phone handy most of the time to call a designated driver, people still choose to drive drunk. This decision can come with very serious consequences not only for the drunk driver but for others on the road who are put at risk of being hit and injured, or worse, killed, by that drunk driver.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says that 37 people die needlessly every single day, because of car accidents involving drunk drivers. The fact that drunk driving is both unnecessary and preventable underlines how unacceptable these deaths are.

Every state in the nation has a drunk driving problem, including the state of Oregon. If you or someone you know were injured in a drunk driving crash, or if you lost a loved one in a collision, call Rosenbaum Law Group to speak with a Portland drunk driver accident attorney today.

Drunk Driving in Oregon

During a nine-year period from 2009 through 2018, Oregon lost 1,176 people in crashes with an alcohol-impaired driver, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). When compared to the national average, Oregon’s alcohol-related driving death rate was higher across all age groups. The percentage of adults who reported that they would still drive even when they had too much to drink in Oregon matched that of the national average. These facts should be particularly concerning for all Oregonians.

While men tend to be involved in deadly drunk driving crashes more often than women, everyone is at risk of severe injury and death when an intoxicated person decides to drive. It is illegal in Oregon to drive with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) above .08%. Under the law, drivers with a BAC above this limit are considered alcohol-impaired.

If you were hit and injured by a careless drunk driver, you deserve compensation for your losses. It is very possible that your injuries will require expensive medical treatment, that you will have to spend some amount of time away from work losing income, and that your car could need costly repairs, to name just a few of the financial hardships you could be forced to deal with.

Filing a claim with your personal injury protection coverage (PIP) could be one way for you to recover the compensation you need. Or, perhaps you could file a claim against the insurance of the drunk driver that caused your accident.

If you file a claim against the drunk driver, you may find that they either do not have enough coverage to pay for your losses or that they have no insurance at all. When this is true, filing a claim with your underinsured/uninsured motor vehicle coverage would be the most appropriate approach to recovering compensation.

Speak to an Oregon Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Today 

While several strategies exist to help reduce drunk drivers, the problem is far from eliminated in communities across the state of Oregon and the country. For assistance filing a claim for compensation after an Oregon drunk driving crash, please call a Portland, OR, personal injury attorney at Rosenbaum Law Group today at (503) 288-8000.

Source:

cdc.gov/transportationsafety/pdf/impaired-driving-new/CDC-impaired-driving-fact-sheet-Oregon.pdf