Year after year, Texas sits at the top of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s list for drunk driving deaths. As personal injury lawyers, we see it happen far too often to our clients and their loved ones: when drunk drivers get behind the wheel, serious injuries can happen. This includes heartbreaking cases like the DUI driver who killed a mother of six.
What can we do to keep Texas roads safer, and how do you tell if a driver is drunk? Here are some tips from our trial lawyers.
What Counts as Drunk Driving in Texas?
In the state of Texas, a driver is considered drunk if their blood alcohol content (BAC) is .08 percent or higher, as determined by a field sobriety test or a blood test. But the legal Regardless of BAC, a driver may be charged with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) if they show any signs of impairment, such as reckless driving, and have any level of alcohol in their system. Evidence of drug use, whether an illegal drug or legal medicine like your allergy medicine, can also lead to a DWI charge in Texas.
People tend to think that it will be easy to prove that the drunk driver is responsible for the wreck, but DWI cases are not as easy to win as you’d assume. Finding out if the driver who caused a crash was impaired can solidify fault and can be critical to helping an injured victim get the compensation and medical care they deserve. It’s one of the reasons drunk driving cases are different from other car crashes.
How Can You Tell if a Driver is Drunk?
Alcohol and drugs affect motor skills and reaction times, leading to the serious wrecks that drunk drivers cause. While you might think of difficulty walking and/or slurred speech when you think of a drunk driver, the signs of impairment may be much subtler. An impaired driver may show any of the following driving behaviors, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD):
● Quick acceleration or deceleration
● Tailgating
● Weaving or zig-zagging across the road
● Driving anywhere other than on a road designated for vehicles
● Almost striking an object, curb, or vehicle
● Stopping without cause or erratic braking
● Drifting in and out of traffic lanes
● Signaling that is inconsistent with driving actions
● Slow response to traffic signals (like sudden stop or delayed starting)
● Straddling the center lane marker
● Driving with headlights off at night
● Swerving
● Driving slower than 10 mph below the speed limit
● Turning abruptly or illegally
● Driving into opposing traffic on the wrong side of the road
If you noticed any of these signs with the driver who caused your crash, it is vital that you find a personal injury lawyer to represent you. While a lawyer isn’t necessary for all types of wrecks, if you’ve been hit by a drunk driver, you do need a lawyer for your car wreck case.
Our Lawyers Keep Drunk Drivers Off Texas Roads
Our team is passionate about getting impaired drivers off the roads. It is our goal to make Texas safer for everyone. If you are the victim of a Texas drunk driving accident or suspect that the driver who caused your or your loved ones' injuries or wrongful death was impaired, call our Texas drunk driving injury attorneys today at 214-699-4409 for a free consultation.
You can also fill out our Contact Us form and one of our lawyers will get in touch with you. We are here to help, and we will do whatever we can to hold the drunk driver responsible and get you on the road to recovery.