Targeted Enforcements Bring Down the Number of Fatal Traffic Crashes in West Virginia

West Virginia’s fatal car crashes have gone down in number. And according to the authorities, this remarkable improvement of the waning statistics can be attributed to the targeting enforcement such as the seat belt enforcement, DUI checkpoints or the child restraint enforcement, etc.

The number of fatalities and car crashes has come down from the 332 fatalities in 305 crashes in 2013 to about 271 fatalities in the 240 crashes last year, as have been reported by the enforcement officials of West Virginia.

And this is all due to the targeted enforcement which has been made possible due to the money granted by the state police of West Virginia and other different law enforcement bodies which had received grants from the Highway Safety Program by the governor.

The police duly acknowledge the fact that a number of moving parts are present if we go according to the statistics but further laid emphasis on the specific, clear-cut relationship between the dominant presence of the police on the road and the reduction of fatal crashes along with the assorted crimes.

According to potential research, it has been found that this recent success story of the decreased fatal crashes in West Virginia has its roots embedded in the increased number of patrols which therefore served as the best DUI deterrent.

Recently published in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, a study referred to as “The Relationship of Impaired-Driving Enforcement Intensity to Drinking and Driving on the Roads” reveals that the amount of DUI arrests, as well as the number of traffic citations, are associated with the odds of people drinking and driving in that particular area.

Being an experienced criminal defense attorney for so many years now and having handled various kinds of DUI defense cases for a number of clients in Morgantown, I am aware of how people can ruin their entire lives for this habit of excessive drinking. Drinking is not bad but people need to change their attitude after drinking. They should be more careful and responsible not only for their own lives but also consider the value of other people’s lives.

These drunken driving cases can prove to be devastating for the driver as they can destroy their entire career and have a tremendous effect upon their families as well as on the victims who fall prey to such reckless accidents. Some either become seriously injured or even lose their lives, merely because one person’s idea of fun is excessive drinking and then driving in that very intoxicated condition.

I want to congratulate and appreciate the praiseworthy efforts of the state police of West Virginia for proactively monitoring and consistently improving the highway safety statistics.

However, having said all that, it would be unfair if I, being a criminal defense attorney doesn’t acknowledge the fact that all drivers must, with regard to such targeted enforcements, know about their rights on coming across any sobriety checkpoint or something similar to that.

Be aware of the laws and your rights. And if still, things go wrong, you can always resort to me.

Source: WVNS-TV – Targeted patrols help reduce fatal accidents in WV