Special DWI Enforcement Plan
The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety will fund special DWI enforcement efforts in five counties this year as part of a heightened enforcement effort to curtail drunken driving in counties with a history of alcohol-related crashes.
The five counties are Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne and Stearns.
According to the Winter 2009 newsletter of the Office of Traffic Safety, law enforcement officers will target various traffic corridors and mark them with illuminated “DWI Arrest Zone” signs. The officers also will patrol other roads in search of motorists who attempt to circumnavigate the high-visibility DWI enforcement areas.
As car accident lawyers who represent injury victims of alcohol-related crashes, the firm of PritzkerOlsen Attorneys applauds the measure. In 2008, a series of special DWI enforcement efforts resulted in 52,833 vehicle stops resulting in more than 3,000 DWI arrests — one arrest per 17 traffic stops.
Under Minnesota Statute, Section 169A, it is a violation of Minnesota law to drive with an alcohol concentration of .08 or more. If someone violates this law, it is prima facie evidence of negligence in a civil case (Minnesota Statutes, Section 169.96 (2006).
In a civil action against a drunk driver, the injured party can ask for punitive damages, which, depending on the circumstances, can be significant. For example, PritzkerOlsen won $6,000,000 on behalf of a 26 year-old female passenger whose right leg was traumatically amputated when the motorcycle on which she was a passenger was struck by a drunk driver.
Special DWI enforcement initiatives can help reduce the chances of such accidents ever happening.
According to the Office of Traffic Safety, the state’s 13 deadliest counties for impaired driving are Anoka, Blue Earth, Crow Wing, Dakota, Hennepin, Itasca, Ramsey, Rice, St. Louis, Sherburne, Stearns, Washington and Wright. The 13 counties accounted for nearly half of the state’s alcohol-related deaths (272) and serious injuries (663) during 2005-2007.
More Effort Needed to Curtail Fatal Accidents
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week said significant progress has been made to reduce motor vehicle injuries, but additional efforts are needed to reduce the number of deaths attributed to motor vehicles.
The CDC said the current national average motor vehicle death rate is well above the Healthy People 2010 objective. The highest state death rate (Mississippi) is four times the lowest state rate (Massachusetts).
An article by the CDC cited in the agency’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report said that during 1999-2005, compared with the national average of 15.4 deaths per 100,000 population, motor vehicle-related death rates were 36 percent lower in the Northeast (9.8 deaths per 100,000 population), 5 percent lower in the Midwest (14.7 deaths per 100,000 population), and 8 percent lower in the West (14.2 deaths per 100,000 population), but considerably higher in the South by 27 percent (19.5 deaths per 100,000 population).
The South accounted for 46 percent of deaths during the period studied, but only 36 percent of population.
The agency noted that a previous study suggested that drivers in the Southern rural areas may travel more miles, increasing the probability of serious collisions.
Prevention measures like lower blood alcohol concentration laws, vehicle safety improvements, better roads, improved emergency response, primary seat belt laws and alcohol checkpoints may help communities to save lives.
What do I do when I am contacted by an insurance company after my Minnesota car accident?
After your car accident, you will most likely be contacted by at least one insurance company within 72 hours. Your are required to report your accident to your insurance company, but you are not required to say anything to any other insurance company. Insurance representatives are trained to get information out of you that the insurance company can use against you. DO NOT TALK TO THEM, not even pleasant conversation. They will sound very nice and concerned. Say nothing.
If you have not contacted an attorney before you are contacted by an insurance company, you can still simply say, “I will have my attorney contact you.”
Then contact us, and we will take care of all legal matters surrounding your accident. It is always better to have a knowledgeable, experienced Minnesota car accident lawyer on your side.
We have a number of options for contacting our law firm:
- Call 612-338-0202 (Twin Cities)
- Call 1-888-377-8900 (toll-free)
- Submit our online consultation form (an attorney will review your form and get back to you as soon as possible)
- Email our Minnesota car accident lawyers (again, an attorney will review the email and get back to you as soon as possible)
It is important for you to hire a Minnesota car accident lawyer you can trust. We look forward to hearing from you and answering all of your questions.
