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A lieutenant with the Appalachia Fire Department is recovering from his injuries this week after the ambulance he was in was hit by a drunk driver over the weekend. 

The firefighter was hurt in an accident in Appalachia, Virginia. The ambulance was struck by a suspected drunk driver as the ambulance was taking a patient to Winston Salem, North Carolina. The ambulance was struck at 1 am and flipped.

The driver of the other vehicle has been charged with DUI and driving without a license.

The driver of the ambulance, the patient and the patient’s mother all suffered injureis as well. There has been no update on the condition of the three injured people in the accident.

Our View

Our North Carolina drunk driving accident attorneys hope that all of the injured recover quickly from their injuries. It would be most upsetting to be a patient in an ambulance, and on top of your current medical condition, to then be injured by a drunk driver.

More than 28 people are killed in DUI accidents every day in the US. This is a death every 51 minutes. What makes this even more upsetting is the fact that these days, it is very easy for people to get a ride when they have been drinking. With the wide availablility of cell phones, social media and ride sharing services such as Uber, it is simple to get a ride after a night of drinking. Unfortunately, too many people still choose to drink and drive and injure other people.

It is encouraging that drunk driving has been greatly reduced in the past few decades. As there is more awareness of DUI dangers, there are not nearly as many accidents as 1980. But our personal injury attorneys routinely file civil lawsuits against drunk drivers who have hurt other drivers and passengers.

One of our personal injury cases involving drunk driving in Virginia involved four friends whose vehicle was rear ended by a drunk driver. The at fault driver was charged with DUI – her second offense. The drunk driver even had her daughter and daughter’s friend in the car.

All four of our clients had serious but nonfatal injuries in the crash that took months of treatment. Our research determined the driver’s BAC was .21%, which is more than double the legal limit in Virginia. Our attorneys told the insurance company adjuster that given the fact the driver was so intoxicated, it was likely that a jury would award punitive damages. So, the insurance company agreed to settle the case for $112,000. 

 

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