STRAIGHT TALK LAW BLOG: THE RIGHT WAY TO RING IN THE NEW YEAR BY SEATTLE PERSONAL INJURY LAWYER JASON EPSTEIN

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There was some great news recently about the past New Year’s Eve weekend here in the state of Washington. Incredible news really, for all of us interested in preventing alcohol-related auto accidents and wrongful deaths.

There was not one DUI-related fatality over the entire holiday weekend. Not one, according to “The Seattle Times.” The Washington State Patrol reported 5 DUI fatalities in the previous year over the same holiday weekend.

Not only that, but arrests of DUI drivers also dropped. Last year, there were 291 drivers charged by police with drunk driving over the New Year’s Eve weekend – and this year, that number shrunk to 257.

Actually, there was only one auto accident fatality in the state of Washington the entire weekend. Unfortunately, it was a Sheriff’s Deputy from Grant County, John Bernard, who crashed and rolled his car. No other vehicles were involved in the incident.

Clearly, driver education and public awareness of the dangers of drunk driving seem to be taking effect. The Washington State Patrol attributed the relatively safe New Year’s weekend to groups using designated drivers, and intoxicated people using taxis or getting rides rather than getting behind the wheel themselves. I think we all agree that there’s nothing wrong with celebrating responsibly – and that there’s everything wrong with getting in the driver’s seat when you’ve had too much to drink.

As I’ve noted before, the holidays are usually a time when personal injury lawyers such as myself see more auto accidents and a sharp increase in DUI-related wrongful deaths. It’s heartbreaking to see what should be a joyous time quickly turn to overwhelming tragedy when these kind of auto accidents occur.

And it’s doubly gratifying to see those kinds of senseless deaths avoided. It’s not just Seattle and the state of Washington seeing this kind of turnaround, either. Back in November of 2009, it was reported that forty states across America have recently seen substantial declines in drunk-driving auto and motorcycle accidents.

Statistics like that make for a very Happy New Year.

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