As the month of October gets underway, many people in Ohio turn their attention to the upcoming Halloween holiday and get excited for a variety of celebratory events. At these events, it is common for adults to consume alcohol. That in and of itself is not a problem, but it can become a problem when those people then reach for their keys at the end of the night to drive home. Sadly, this is a situation that happens all too often even in the face of well-documented facts showing how dangerous driving after drinking is.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the number of drunk driving deaths in Ohio has increased every year from 2013 to 2017. In 2013, 266 people died at the hands of intoxicated drivers. That number jumped to 302 the next year and up to 309 in 2015. The following year saw another jump to 330 alcohol-related fatalities in 2016 and, finally, in 2017, the state recorded 333 fatalities in drunk driving accidents.
In Lucas County between 2013 and 2017, a total of 64 people lost their lives in crashes in which alcohol was a stated factor. That is significantly more than in any of its neighboring counties. In Wood County, 18 drunk driving deaths were recorded. Henry, Fulton and Ottowa Counties experienced 11, 10 and eight such deaths, respectively.
If you would like to learn more about how you or a loved one may be able to seek compensation and justice after an accident that was caused by a negligent driver, please feel free to visit the drunk driving crash assistance page of our Ohio personal injury and motor vehicle accident website.