Drunk Drivers, the Super Bowl, and Your Safety

The fifty first Super Bowl will grace television screens across the country this February and along with traditional Super Bowl snacks like chicken wings and chips, beer and other alcoholic drinks are usually part of any size Super Bowl party.  In fact, Super Bowl ranks up there with New Year’s Eve and the Forth of July as one of the nation’s top drinking days.

It’s no surprise, then, that Super Bowl day also sees a spike in people who drink and drive.  With and average of 325 million gallons of beer consumed on Super Bowl Sunday, according to Forbes Magazine, the reality of this drinking day really hits home.

In Southern Arizona, where a DUI task force is implemented reduce drinking and driving accidents on Super Bowl Sunday, an average 550 cars are stopped on Suspicion of drinking and driving. That can add up to a lot of arrests at Pima County checkpoints where five out of seven arrests are for driving while intoxicated. The Arizona legal limit is 0.08 and anyone whose blood alcohol level exceeds this and who causes an accident faces serious consequences in the Grand Canyon State.

The key is to avoid drinking and driving on this day and to avoid drunk drivers, especially since your chances of being involved in an alcohol related car accident on this day doubles.

• To start with, if you’re going to have a few drinks, either stay home, use public transportation, call a cab or designate a sober driver.
• If you’re the designated driver, be sure to pay attention to everything around you.  You’ll need to be able to spot a motorist who appears intoxicated from any direction.  Signs to look for are swerving in and out of lanes and driving fast and aggressively. Get far out of the way of these drivers.
• When driving be sure to take it slow. You will want as much reaction time as possible to slow down or swerve out of the way to avoid a drunk driver.
• Avoid distractions.  As much fun as it is to blare the radio or talk about the game, you really want to minimize distractions when driving on Super Bowl Sunday.  Taking your eyes off the road for even a moment to adjust the stereo can mean the difference between being the victim of a car accident or not.

Even by obeying the speed limit and following these tips, you may still find yourself the victim of a drunk driver in Arizona on Super Bowl Sunday.  If you are injured in a car accident on this day or any other day, you are legally entitled to compensation that includes costs of medical treatment, time out of work, and other expenses. But to get these, you need a trusted, competent lawyer to help.

Don’t delay. Call Hastings and Hastings at 800-975-0080 for a free, no obligation consultation.