Attorney
At its peak in the early 1980s, drunk driving in Virginia killed around 600 people a year, accounting for half of all traffic deaths. Thanks to harsher fines, state-sponsored traffic and driving schools, and alcohol awareness programs, Northern Virginia has seen a decrease in drunk driving deaths since the 80s, but they continue to cause a lot of damage and suffering. A Northern Virginia personal injury lawyer can help you hold drunk drivers responsible if drunk driving has harmed you or a loved one.
A multiple DUI offender killed a Catholic nun and injured two other nuns in a head-on car accident in Prince William County on a Sunday morning a few weekends ago. The 66-year-old victim and the two others were traveling northbound from Richmond towards Bristow for an annual spiritual retreat. Traveling in the southbound lane, the drunk driver first swerved into a guardrail on his right, then crossed into the northbound lane, struck a barrier, and slammed head-on into the nuns’ vehicle. Police charged the suspect with his third DUI in five years, involuntary manslaughter and driving with a revoked license.
If you plan on drinking, always have an alternate way home in mind such as calling a taxi or bringing a designated driver. The consequences of a DUI conviction are severe and never worth risking. You can lose your ability to drive and thus your ability to get to work or school or go grocery shopping for several months. You can have a criminal record that can affect your ability to get jobs years later. Worst of all, you can cause serious injury to yourself or others.
If drunk driving has harmed you or a loved one, contact Thomas McWeeny, a Northern Virginia personal injury attorney, at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson & DePaolis L.L.P to learn more about obtaining compensation.