Impaired driving is a fatal threat to pedestrians. In Connecticut and throughout the United States, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, 48 percent of all pedestrian fatalities involved a drunk driver or pedestrian in 2011. Connecticut suffered 36 pedestrian fatalities by all causes in 2012, according to the NHTSA. The NHTSA also found that drunk driving accidents caused 85 deaths in the state for that year.
Police claim that an accident caused by a drunk driver caused horrible injuries and may lead to the death of a 20-year-old man who was jogging on Middletown Avenue in North Haven on July 16. According to a witness, the 72-year-old suspect was driving a blue pickup truck that was swerving across the road’s double yellow line, back into its own lane and onto the shoulder. It then veered right and struck the jogger who was running in the opposite direction. The witness said that there was no screech from the car before the impact.
The victim was found unconscious at the crash scene and police applied a tourniquet to try to stop the bleeding. Police also had to amputate his leg. However, his family attorneys told the court that the victim was on life support and was unlikely to live.
Police arrested the suspect after failing field sobriety tests. He admitted that he drank one beer earlier in the day when a police officer smelled alcohol on his breath. Charges of driving under the influence and second degree assault with a motor vehicle were filed against him. His bail was lowered from $100,000 to $50,000 and was released after posting the bond.
Driving accident victims and their families should seek assistance on conducting an investigation and determining liability for these accidents from the driver or the establishment that served alcohol to an impaired driver. Assistance should be sought promptly because legal deadlines may restrict the time a civil action may be filed.
Source: NBC Connecticut, “Jogger dies after being struck by drunk driver in North Haven,” Ari Mason, July 17, 2014
