For many people throughout the country, the weekend is a time to let loose and relax. Others, however, may have a tendency to over-indulge with alcohol during the weekends, which may have dangerous results if they then choose to drive. Georgia authorities responded to reports of a drunk driving accident involving two cars, and, surprisingly, a house. Sometime after midnight on July 7, an SUV ran a stop sign and collided with another vehicle carrying five passengers. The SUV then ran over a telephone pole and proceeded to drive through several people's front yards. After leaving the scene of the first crash, the inebriated driver also crashed into a second vehicle and a house before coming to a stop. After arresting the individual, Georgia State Patrol officers revealed that the driver's initial blood alcohol level was three times the legal limit. A total of six people were sent to the hospital with injuries, including the five…

Drinking alcohol is a common practice among both men and women of various ages. Many of these individuals only drink in moderation or take proper precautions if they believe that they will become intoxicated and unable to drive. However, others take no such precautions and choose to attempt driving while intoxicated.  Georgia authorities were called on a recent Wednesday afternoon in response to an apparent drunk driving accident. This crash was a head-on collision between two vehicles. Witnesses told authorities that one of the drivers was seen exiting a liquor store before getting into his car and driving erratically. This driver was observed weaving in and out of traffic and eventually veered into oncoming traffic. Although she was unsuccessful, the driver of the second vehicle attempted to swerve out of the oncoming driver's path, hoping to avoid a collision. Authorities say the driver was so intoxicated that he was unable to…

Unfortunately, it seems that far too many drivers in Georgia these days are choosing to get behind the wheel while intoxicated. Despite increased education and public awareness, drunk driving continues to be a real problem across the state. Those that drive while under the influence of alcohol endanger the lives of all those around them. Statistically, a person is killed in an accident with a drunk driver every 40 minutes in the United States. A recent accident in Covington made headlines after an alleged intoxicated driver crashed and caused a five-car pileup. The accident occurred during the morning hours at the intersection of Highways 278 and 142. According to witnesses, the alleged intoxicated driver approached the intersection at a high rate of speed and struck the rear of a vehicle that was sitting at the intersection traffic light. Reports say the collision set off a chain-reaction crash that involved four other vehicles that were stopped at the light. A driver…

A Georgia woman's family mourns her death after receiving word that she was killed in an accident just before Christmas. Her death was caused by a man who had been arrested on multiple occasions for drunk driving. He is currently being held in Gwinnett County Jail. Reports say that the victim was driving home from her job at Medieval Times Dinner and Tournament when the accident occurred. She was driving on Georgia Highway 316, a divided highway, when her vehicle was struck head-on by another vehicle traveling in the wrong direction. After striking the victim's car, the second driver attempted to continue driving, but instead, he struck another vehicle. The driver of the third car was able to swerve far enough to avoid injury. However, the woman driving the first vehicle was pronounced dead at the scene, and the at-fault driver was taken to Gwinnett Medical Center. At the hospital,…

Dispatchers play a very important role in emergency services. They provide the link between the caller and the responding personnel, like police, EMTs, or other first responders. Unfortunately, one Georgia dispatcher was fired after she was arrested for drunk driving. The accident occurred at an intersection around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 11. There were three cars involved in the collision. The first car was hit when the driver of the at-fault vehicle ran a red light. She then attempted to continue driving and struck a second vehicle. When police arrived on the scene, the intoxicated woman had moved over into the passenger's seat of her car. At first, she attempted to deny that she was driving the car, but witnesses to the crash informed police that she was the driver and only occupant of the vehicle. She also claimed not to know how the crash occurred. Later, the woman admitted that she had been…

Police officers across the nation often put their lives on the line in the performance of their duties. These men and women are seen on the news participating in high-speed chases, arresting violent criminals, or conducting searches for people in remote or dangerous areas. However, these acts of heroism are only a very small fraction of what most officers do on a daily basis. It can be easy to forget that officers may also be at risk while doing much less glamorous tasks. One Georgia State Patrol officer became the victim of a drunk driving accident while he was on duty. The accident occurred on Monday, Nov. 6, on Matt Highway where the officer was directing traffic. Authorities stated that the officer was hit by a car driven by a Forsyth County Water and Sewer Department employee. After the accident, the officer underwent surgery for his broken leg, and the driver…

Traffic in Georgia seems to have reached an all-time high in the last week. Roadways are packed with people driving up from Florida in order to get out of the path of Hurricane Irma. Unfortunately, with more people on the roads, small accidents are taking a greater toll on the flow of traffic. The increased number of drivers also means that drunk driving accidents are more likely to cause serious harm. Last Saturday a young father was killed by a drunk driver. The victim's car was T-boned at an intersection on his commute to work. After the accident, the driver of the other vehicle was arrested. He has been charged with DUI and driving without a license. Unfortunately, this is not the first time that drunk driving has affected this family. It was revealed later that a relative of the victim was also killed by a drunk driver. The family has set up…

Large cities never truly sleep, and cities in Georgia are no exception. There is a constant flow of traffic at all hours of the night and day, although some hours are certainly more active than others. Unfortunately, that also means that car accidents can occur at all times for a variety of reasons. Accidents caused by drunk driving are not an uncommon cause of late-night traffic jams. These accidents, while always terrible occurrences, are made worse when lives are lost. Such was the case in Georgia on August 24th around 4 a.m. when a motorcyclist was struck by a car at an intersection. The motorcyclist was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities speculate that the victim, a local bartender for a Vietnamese-Creole restaurant, was stopped at the intersection when he was struck from behind by an SUV. The collision caused the motorcycle and its driver to be dragged for several feet and…

There's no question that attitudes toward driving under the influence of alcohol have changed considerably here in the U.S. over the last several decades, with more people than ever understanding just how dangerous this behavior is. Indeed, statistics show that while alcohol was a factor in 55 percent of fatal crashes in 1982, this number has since declined to roughly 33 percent. As encouraging as this development is, a recently released report by the Governors Highway Safety Association reveals that the threat posed by impaired driving not only remains very real, but has actually evolved. Authored by a former senior official with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the report found that 43 percent of drivers who died in car crashes had some sort of drug in their system, while 38 percent of drivers who died in car crashes had alcohol in their system. Based on 2015 data, the most recent year…

While most of us know that drunk driving occurs all too frequently on U.S. roads and highways, we might not fully appreciate just how much of a cost this reckless conduct takes year after year. However, a recently published study in the medical journal Pediatrics provides some much-needed insight on the scope of the problem, while simultaneously illustrating the need for lawmakers at the state level to start doing more. As part of the study, researchers at Boston University School of Medicine analyzed a large data pool of fatal car accidents occurring from 2000 to 2013, and determined, rather shockingly, that drunk driving is taking a disproportionate toll on children, teens, and young adults. Specifically, they found that there were 84,756 car accident fatalities among people age 20 and under during this timeframe, with more than 25 percent of these deaths involving a drunk driver, and almost 50 percent occurring on the…