Drunk driving has long been one of the nation’s most serious traffic safety issues. In 2009, alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes claimed the lives of 10,839 people, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Compared to 2006, there were 2,631 fewer fatalities in 2009. The group responsible for such accidents, however, has remained largely the same, as a car accident that recently occurred in Orange County, California illustrates, explains a local lawyer.
Last December, a 27-year-old Santa Ana man killed his nephew and seriously injured his brother-in-law when he crashed his Chevrolet Suburban while driving under the influence of alcohol. Tapu Aniceto Sitagata had been drinking at a cocktail lounge in Tustin when his rowdy behavior prompted the bartender to ask him to leave. Despite efforts by the bartender and a police officer to call a taxi for him, Sitagata managed to leave the venue driving his own vehicle. He crashed just a few miles away, the impact killing his 20-year-old nephew and causing his 34-year-old brother-in-law to sustain several broken bones and lacerations to his spleen and liver. Sitagata, who fled the scene on foot, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years to life in prison for his actions.
Throughout the years, drivers aged 21- to 34 years old have accounted for the majority of fatal collisions involving alcohol: 62 percent were attributed to this age group in 2006 and 67 percent in 2009.
Moreover, males in this age range have confirmed their contribution to the incidence of drunk driving in this country. Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed data from the 2010 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a state-based, random telephone survey used to collect information on health-related behaviors from a representative sample of the population. In 2010, four million respondents reported an estimated 112 million incidents of alcohol-impaired driving, a decrease of 30 percent from 2006. The majority of offenders, 81 percent, were men. While men aged 21- to 34 years old only represented 11 percent of the population, they accounted for 32 percent of reported episodes.
Over the past several years, the efforts of federal and state traffic agencies to combat risky behaviors, such as speeding, not wearing seat belts, and driving impaired, have improved the safety of our roads and highways, explains a lawyer. Fatal car accidents involving this age group like the one that occurred in Orange County last winter, however, remain a problem. Future education and enforcement efforts should focus specifically on this demographic.
