Florida Third in Nation for DUI Fatalities
Thirty-two-year-old Jason Frayne Brown has pled guilty to DUI manslaughter, 17 months after he killed a three-month-old infant in a rear-end accident. The victim's car was stopped at an intersection when Brown slammed into the back of it and another vehicle.
Witnesses claimed Brown was behaving strangely and seemed "to be high on something." Brown left the scene but was apprehended by police shortly after the accident. Brown will spend 10 years behind bars, serve five years' probation, lose his driver's license permanently and pay up to $10,000 in restitution to victims.
Unfortunately, this scene is all too familiar in the state of Florida. The state is third in the nation behind Texas and California for DUI fatality rates for both adult and underage drivers. In 2009, 770 people lost their lives in alcohol-related crashes, 79 of whom were victims of drunk drivers under the age of 21. Though disturbing, these numbers are actually down 13.2 percent from 2008.
That same year, over 50,000 DUI arrests were made in the state. A first DUI offense carries fines between $500 and $1,000 and the possibility of community service, jail time, impoundment of vehicle and suspension of a convicted driver's license. These penalties are for offenses in which a driver's blood alcohol concentration, or BAC, is between the legal limit of .08 and .14. If a driver's BAC is .15 or above, fines increase, as can length of jail time and suspension of license.
These enhanced penalties are especially appropriate since "hardcore drinkers," those with BACs greater than .15 at time of arrest, are responsible for 73 percent of all alcohol-related fatalities.
Florida's DUI laws have the potential to dissuade drivers from getting behind the wheel when they are intoxicated. Some Fort Lauderdale car accident attorneys reason that until drivers are sufficiently educated in the consequences of drunk driving-physical, emotional and legal-the state's DUI problem will continue to persist.
