Police received a report of a Mitsubishi driving “erratically”, and before officers could stop the car, it caused a series of crashes that would eventually involve 15 vehicles sending several to the hospital. The driver and the passenger of the Mitsubishi were both arrested on suspicion of opioid use with the driver being charged with a DUI as well.
The accident happened around 12 p.m. Friday, February 8, near mile marker 35.4 on I-65 in the northbound lanes. According to police at the scene, the Mitsubishi swerved across both lanes and crashed into the median guardrail.
Traffic then became backed up, and then around 12:30, three cars piled up into each other a couple miles down the freeway. Ten minutes later, six vehicles piled into each other after traffic came to a standstill because of the first pileup. At this point, a tractor trailer crashed into the back of a line of cars stopped for the second pile-up causing five cars to smash into each other.
DUI and Multi-Car Pileup Crashes
Over the past several decades, incidences of people driving while impaired has gone down. According to a report by Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration, from 2002 to 2014, the number of people who drove while impaired by alcohol or drugs dropped each year. This tracks with other studies and statistics that show a decrease in fatalities and injuries caused by impaired driving. However, this trend is slowing, and in some states, DUI deaths have slightly increased in the past few years.
As of 2017, DUI fatalities still make up the bulk of all traffic accident fatalities at around 25 percent. In that year, there were close to 38,000 traffic deaths with almost 11,000 being due to impaired driving.
Pileup Crashes
Pileup crashes are multi-vehicle crashes that happen when an accident occurs and other cars coming up on the accident-stopped cars-are unable to slow in time and then pile into each other. Many of these are damage-only impacts but some cause serious injuries. This makes just about any accident on a highway or freeway a risk for secondary crashes that can be more dangerous than the original. Click here to see a video of pile-up crashes on an icy freeway.
DUI and Pileups
Impaired Driving plays a significant role in pile-up accidents. First, an impaired driver may be involved in the primary crash which can then set off a number of secondary crashes thus putting hundreds at risk for injury or death. Second, when drivers are impaired, their ability to react in time to stopped cars is diminished thus making them more at risk of being involved in a pileup collision.
What Do I do if ‘m in a Pileup Crash?
Whether you are in the original crash or a secondary crash, experts say the best thing to do is to stay seat belted in your car. This is to prevent further physical damage or even death as your car—even damaged and exposed to oncoming cars—offers you the best protection. Once you are out on the road, you have no protection if you are struck.
How is Fault Determined?
Fault in a pile-up crash is usually straight forward: each driver is responsible for hitting the car in front of it. While this isn’t a hard maxim, it does provide a beginning point for fault. However, there can be circumstances where this isn’t the case such as when a large truck hits a line of cars, then the fault might be with the truck for pushing the cars into each other, or the court may decide that each person was too close to the person in from of them.
Do I Need an Attorney?
It’s up to each injured person whether they get an attorney. However, in multi-car wrecks, there are typically several insurance companies covering the many vehicles, and each one is going to point the finger at the other where liability is concerned.
You need to talk to someone who is experienced in helping injured motorists involved in a multi-car pileup or by an impaired driver. Call the Pearce Law Firm, P.C. at (215) 557-8686 or text at (215) 880 6164. You can also send them a message online by clicking here. They have the experience and knowledge necessary to help you.
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