One of the most sobering parts of being a trial lawyer who handles personal injury and death cases is to examine, re-examine, and rehash car accidents that simply should not have happened. Someone’s bad decision, or more often a thoughtless decision, leads to horrible consequences. Families are literally and figuratively shattered. Drivers and passengers carry injuries for life, and when some is killed the families never fill the void. Even those unhurt can carry feelings of guilt and responsibility for years. One person’s poor decision can create a tragic ripple effect for themselves, their families, and innocent strangers.
We’ve seen this firsthand on many occasions. Recently, we were asked to handle a case where a dad was called by police to come to the accident scene where his 16-year-old son lay crushed in the passenger seat of a friend’s car. The first responders wanted the dad to have the opportunity to comfort his son in his potentially dying moments. Thankfully, firefighters used the Jaws of Life to rescue him, and doctors did their best to put the young man back together. He sustained fractures and injuries from head to toe, underwent multiple surgeries, and lived in a hospital bed for months. The family was turned upside down – all because of a bad decision by the driver. Even the driver’s life was negatively affected. He was racked by guilt as to what he did to his family, his friend’s family.
So I was happy to read last week’s news that the number of people who died in vehicle crashes in Louisiana went down. In seven years, Louisiana’s traffic fatalities are down over 29%. That is a great statistic, and an important trend. To me it means, overall people in Louisiana are choosing to drive safer and to make better decisions. And it means, fewer shattered lives.
While the trend is positive, the data still must give us pause, as 703 people died due to crashes in 2013, including pedestrians and bicyclists. Each vehicular fatally leaves the drivers, families, doctors, and law enforcement to pick up the pieces and ask the question “why did this happen?” Over half the time, part of the answer is that the seatbelt was not being properly worn. And a third of the time, the accident involved alcohol. Those are sad and staggering statistics. Sad because of the needless loss of life. Staggering because, so many people could have lived by simply wearing their seatbelt or making a better choice when drinking – decisions you know they and their families would make if given a second chance to do so.
So let’s all pledge to do better with our first chances every time we drive. Wear seat belts. Don’t drink any alcohol before driving. Don’t text and drive. Drive safer. Let’s use 2013’s statistics as an opportunity to make the easy, good, and responsible driving decisions.