Injury accidents are commonplace on almost any roadway in Maryland. Whether it’s the city streets of Annapolis or D.C., the open highways across the state, or tight country roads, a car or truck crash can occur without warning. As a Maryland auto accident lawyer, I also know that drunken driving ups the ante when it comes to automobile collisions.
Not only does drinking and driving reduce a motorist’s reaction times, but it also dulls the cognitive portion of the brain, reducing a driver’s ability to make good and proper decisions. Mixing alcohol with a motor vehicle on a public road is just disaster waiting to happen. Yet this is what happens dozens of times every month. The pain and suffering that drunk drivers inflict on innocent motorists is already too high, yet police are constantly pulling these drivers over.
Unfortunately, sometimes it’s too late when a person driving under the influence of alcohol is taken into custody by law enforcement officer. A recent news report shows that as police try ever harder to limit the number of drunks on the road there is always one that gets through and causes an accident.
In this latest case, reports show that a Berlin, Maryland, driver caused a four-car accident that tied up traffic in Racetrack Road late in January. According to that report, the accident occurred just past 5pm on Route 589 near Cathell Road on a Monday afternoon.
Police reports states that a 72-year-old woman struck three other vehicles while she was allegedly driving while intoxicated in her 2003 Toyota sedan. The driver’s vehicle ended up in the southbound lane following the crash. The woman, who name was not available at the time of the news article, was taken to Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury with life-threatening injuries.
Police indicated that the driver’s name was included in a log of the week’s driving under the influence arrests released to local media, however the a spokesman for the Maryland State Police said the driver had not been charged with DUI and that the police were still investigating the incident.
Pileup sends driver to PRMC, DelmarvaNow.com, January 19, 2010