The Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) traffic safety director Terry Pence states that Texas leads the nation in the number of alcohol-related crashes and fatal accidents. As our Pearland accident attorneys have said before, everything’s bigger in Texas, even our traffic problems.
TXDOT conducts a number of traffic safety programs campaigns designed to cut down on the number of Texas drunk drivers and fatal alcohol-related crashes. One initiative takes TXDOT trucks out to university football stadiums and other locations to raise awareness about the dangers of drunken driving and to encourage drinkers to find alternate means of transportation home after they’ve been drinking during a game.
Statistics show that about 6% of the approximately 25,000 alcohol-related crashes in Texas last year occurred on the day of a Texas football game. So TXDOT is reaching out to football fans in an effort to curb dangerous drunken driving behaviors. Pearland accident attorneys see every day how alcohol-related crashes take lives and leave permanent scars and injury disabilities with many survivors of accidents caused by Texas drunk drivers.
A recent day saw the TXDOT truck out at the University of Texas’ football stadium. A student that co-chairs ATX Rides, a service that conveys drinkers home after game nights, was also there. ATX Rides serves an average of 300 to 400 people each night it operates.
But a Houston army recruiter who was also present said he didn’t believe that the campaigns would have any influence on Texas drunk drivers. He said that those who drink and river are reckless and irresponsible anyway. Our Pearland accident attorneys tend to agree that hardened drinkers tend to completely disregard safety concerns. The TXDOT and ATX Rides campaigns will likely have no influence on hard drinkers’ behavior. In fact, nothing will probably stop the reckless, heedless behaviors of those Texas drunk drivers except dying in a fatal crash.
But we Pearland accident attorneys remain hopeful that the campaigns may reduce drunken driving incidents among other populations. University students often remain more idealistic and concerned than older adults. The campaigns might well prove a positive influence that will keep them from following in the fatal footsteps of hardened Texas drunk drivers.