New York drunk driver hits two vehicles, injuring five
On behalf of Albert Buzzetti & Associates, L.L.C. posted in Car Accidents on Thursday, July 4, 2013.
Impaired driving due to alcohol consumption is a highly dangerous activity that jeopardizes the safety of others sharing the road. Such actions are avoidable and should be deterred when possible.
A New York woman faces charges related to intoxicated driving after a recent motor vehicle accident. Witnesses claim that the woman was speeding prior to the accident and went up on a curb, colliding with a building. She then hit a minivan and a jitney bus, injuring five people total, including the other two drivers. The woman told authorities that she was stressed at the time of the accident because she was being evicted from her home. She also told officers that she had only one beer before the accident, but refused to submit to a chemical test to determine her intoxication level. She has been charged with drunk driving and refusing to submit to the chemical test.
The occurrence of an accident provides law enforcement officials with the requisite reasonable suspicion that a law may have been violated. This suspicion allows officers to temporarily detain all those involved to further investigate the accident. The investigation may provide an officer that one or more of the drivers was intoxicated at the time of the accident, based on testing or the discovery of other evidence. If a victim is injured in an accident caused by a drunk driver, they may be able to bring an action to collect damages. To be successful in such an action, the victim must prove the defendant’s intoxication level, that it was too high to operate a vehicle and that their actions indicated a lack of care for the safety of others.
In this accident, the woman was reportedly speeding before she collided with a building and then two other vehicles. Authorities that investigated the accident felt that there was reason to believe that she may have been impaired at the time of the accident and she refused to submit to blood alcohol testing. The five people injured in this accident may have an action against the woman for their injuries if they are able to prove that she was intoxicated and that her intoxication led to the accident.