Tuesday afternoon saw the launch of a coordinated, and much-needed, public education campaign to drive home the message that drinking and driving puts everyone on Virginia’s roads at risk for injury and death.
The Virginia State police, the state’s chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Virginia’s secretary of public safety announced the Help Eliminate Alcohol Related Tragedies, or HEART, initiative at the state police station in Chesapeake. During HEART education sessions, instructors will invite participants to wear specially designed goggles that give wearers the sensation that they are legally drunk.
HEART joins ongoing programs such as MADD’s Campaign to Eliminate Drunk Driving and the state police’s Highway Safety Challenge. But every effort to discourage people from drinking and driving–as well as to discourage drugged or distracted driving–is welcome. This weekend saw a brief police pursuit of speeding drunk driver on Lynnhaven parkway in Virginia end in the death of the impaired driver. Across the country, nearly 13,000 traffic deaths involved a drunk driver in 2007. Three hundred thirty-two of those deaths occurred in Virginia.
Accidents happen. Having practiced personal injury law for three decades, I know that maybe better than anyone. I also know that accidents are more likely to happen when people drink then drive. I am glad to see each new effort such as HEART to reduce drunk driving and wish it great success.
About the Editors: Shapiro, Cooper Lewis & Appleton is a law firm which focuses on injury and accident law, and our attorneys have handled thousands of car and truck accident cases. Check out our case results to see for yourself. In addition, check out our FREE special reports on distracted driving and The Best Guide to Car Accident injuries in Virginia. Our primary office is based in Virginia Beach, Virginia (VA), although our lawyers hold licenses in NC, SC, WV, KY and DC. We are ready to talk to you by phone right now, and we provide free initial confidential injury case consultations. Call us toll free at 1-800-752-0042. Our injury attorneys also host an extensive injury law video library on Youtube. Further, our lawyers proudly edit the Virginia Beach Injuryboard and Norfolk Injuryboard as pro bono public information services.
EJL
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