Dwi related deaths in Tarrant Co, Tx 2008-2012
Tarrant County, found in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metropolitan Area, is the 3rd most populous county in the state of Texas. Nationally, it is the sixteenth most populous county. Located strategically in North Texas, Tarrant County has four major interstate Highways, namely: 1-20, 1-30, 1-35, and 1-820. Generally, it is estimated that drunken driving are responsible for in excess of 1,500 deaths each year in Texas.
DWI (Driving While Intoxicated) alludes to driving while being intoxicated of alcohol. The arresting officer has thus grounds to believe that the driver in question is too impaired to keep on driving. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 12.8 percent of all traffic accidents in the United States are alcohol-related. DrivingAndDriving.Org, an estimated 3 out of 100,000 people are killed by DWI in Tarrant County, TX annually (Cheong, 2012).
According to Texas State law, intoxication refers to (1) lacking the normal function of mental faculties are a result of introduction of intoxicating substances such as alcohol, controlled substance, or dangerous drugs into the body., OR (2) lacking the normal function of physical faculties as a result of introduction of alcohol, controlled substance, or dangerous drugs into the body, OR (3) having an alcohol concentration in excess of equal to .08% (Cheong, 2012).
In 2008, the state of Texas reported a total of 1,146 fatal accidents. Of these, at least one driver had a BAC of 0.08% or above. There official number of deaths on deaths resulting from alcohol impaired driving stood at 1,269 in the same year. However, 195 people lost their lives in fatal accidents caused by drives whose BAC was between 0.01% and 0.07%. Generally, it was noted that a total of 1,463 deaths occurred in the state of Texas caused by driver with a BAC level of 0.01% or above.
In 2009, as many as 1,235 people in the state of Texas were killed due to alcohol impaired driving. Of these deaths, 71% were as a result of drivers who were intoxicated twice the legal blood alcohol concentration. In this year, Tarrant Country ranked number 4 in the state in alcohol related traffic accidents as well as fatalities. This was the case because 134 alcohol deaths happened in Tarrant County alone. A total of 48 bicyclists and pedestrians lost their lives due to deaths from vehicle accidents involving DWI, a total of 163 passengers perished, 613 intoxicated or drunk drivers died while 132 other drivers died. There was a total of 1877 deaths reported as a result of driving while intoxicated in Texas. In 2010, Texas reported a total of 1,454 drunken drivers deaths, of which 852 had known BAC results. As many as 1,700 people were arrested for their third DWI in Tarrant county.
Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) is a major vehicular crime in Tarrant County and the larger Texas state with far reaching effects to the individuals involved, their families and the community at large. The most pronounced DWI-related offences in the county and state include Intoxication Assault which results in serious bodily injury, Intoxication Manslaughter, DWI involving minor property damage/injury, and DWI/Child Endangerment which refers to driving while intoxicates with minor child on board. The tragic effects of DWI range from loss of life to serious injuries to physical and emotional suffering to financial devastation (Cheong, 2012).
There is always incredible stress to the surviving family members in instances where one is closely related with the victim and is also victim to the vehicular crime. The wrongful loss of a loved one merely because of the another person’s decision to get drunk and get behind the will can have traumatizing effects on the bereaved family members and friends.
Teenage drunk drivers in Texas are often the major causalities of driving while intoxicated. Statistics from the Texas Department of Transportation indicate that licensed drivers under the age of 21 are responsible for 12 percent of all motor vehicle fatalities involving alcohol (Cheong, 2012). Persons injured as a result of driving while intoxicated are entitled to suing the driver for negligence in Texas. The Texas State Laws afford a person with a drunk driving accident claim more reparations for their injuries as compared to other auto wreck claims. The damages include medical bills, physical pain, physical impairment, mental anguish, and lost earnings.
The case of 21-year-old John Schambacher who was a second victim from a fatal DWI crash in Tarrant country is evidentiary of the serious of the problem in the county. Schambacher was admitted in hospital with critical brain damage after being involved a Saturday night truck crash caused by an intoxicated Tarrant County sheriff. Schambacher’s friend Amy Anders was killed in the deadly wreck. In another 2008 alcohol impaired case, an intoxicated motorist Bill Gunter was involved in an accident near a gas station parking space in Tarrant Country. The arresting officer took the offender through a horizontal-gaze-nystagmus test which he failed by indicating maximum amount of signs for intoxication. The motorist’s breath in the intoxilyzer machine also indicated alcohol concentration of more than twice the legal limit. The motorist was sentenced for fifteen years in jail as a result.
There are a number of interventions that have been adopted in Tarrant County in order to reduce the large number of DWI related deaths. These include MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving), a large lobby group that pushes for tougher punishments on those who drive while under the influence of alcohol (Cheong, 2012). FAIP (Felony Alcohol Intervention Program), launched in November 2006, targets chronic DWI offenders for counseling, supervision, monitoring and giving them incentives to remain sober. The program is voluntary in the sense that the participant must both want and it be ready to follow all stipulated rules and guidelines of the FAIP (Pankow, 2009). Also, a psychological examination is done on the person prior to admission. This program is relevant considering repeat DWI offenders are often overrepresented in most of Tarrant County’s fatal accidents besides having relatively greater risk for fatal crash involvement. As of April 2011, Tarrant Country had a total of 180 enrolled alcoholic drivers in the FAIP, with twelve graduates.
References:
Pankow, J. (2009). Promising Findings from a DWI Court. Retrieved from: http://www.ibr.tcu.edu/presentations/PDF/09%2810-SF%29Pankow-DWICourt.pdf
Cheong, F., P. (2012). 2012 United Way Tarrant County Community Assessment Update. Retrieved from: http://www.unitedwaytarrant.org/system/resources.
