U.S. Capital

The Plan While You Can Campaign Encourages Drivers to Get Home Safely

Feb 22, 2017

Austin, TX (Law Firm Newswire) February 22, 2017 – Plan While You Can is a campaign designed by the TxDOT to encourage drivers to plan a sober ride home. Although it is aimed at the holiday season, the message resonates year round.

The inspiration for this campaign comes from the death of a 9-year-old girl who was killed by a drunk driver while she was on her way home from her birthday party, three years ago. Every day since then, her family has been reliving the devastating loss. The man responsible for the fatal crash was arrested, charged and jailed for intoxication manslaughter.

“According to statistics released by the TxDOT, for the period [between] December 1, 2015 to January 1, 2016, there were 2,374 [accidents] logged as being DWI. There were 205 serious injuries and 102 deaths. For the same time period for 2014 – 2015 there were 2,417 crashes with 192 serious injuries and 112 deaths,” outlined Austin plaintiff’s DWI attorney, Bobby Lee. Despite the encouraging fact that there appears to be a 9 percent decrease in DWI crashes, drivers continue drink and drive.

Not drinking and driving is a matter of personal responsibility. It only takes a phone call to line up a ride home if an individual is planning on consuming alcohol. “Call a cab, call a friend, call Uber, call Flyte — just call someone to come and get you. Have someone ready to pick you up before you even start drinking. Do not drive while inebriated. You are a danger to yourself and others,” added Lee.

In Texas, if a driver is caught DWI, they could lose their license, land in jail and face hefty fines. “Is it worth killing someone and messing up your life for a few drinks? How would you feel if you lost a family member thanks to a drunk driver?” asked Lee. “Think. Be responsible.”

To learn more, visit http://www.lgrlawfirm.com

Lee, Gober & Reyna
11940 Jollyville Road #220-S
Austin, Texas 78759
Phone: 512.478.8080

  • Pickup driver runs red light, killing motorcyclist
    A recent motorcycle accident in Austin saw a truck running a red light collide with a motorcyclist. The accident happened in the early afternoon, near Pecan Park Boulevard. The biker was 34-years-old and died at the scene. His passenger, a 20-year-old woman was taken to hospital with life threatening injuries. According to eyewitness testimony and the initial investigation into the accident by the police, the Chevrolet truck was headed east on the Boulevard and ran the red light on the 183 service road. The motorcyclist collided with the passenger’s side of the truck. None of the individuals involved in this […]
  • Amarillo cracks down on texting while driving
    Texas is one of only four states without a ban on texting while driving. Instead the individual counties and towns attempt to ban distracted driving by introducing their own legislation. Over the last few years, there have been numerous attempts to bring in legislation addressing one of the biggest problems nationwide — texting while driving. In 2015 there were 5,364 accidents in Texas caused by distracted driving. Of those 5,364 accidents, 70 were fatal. Making any kind of law to ban or restrict texting while driving has been met with opposition at the state level. The proposed Senate Bill 31, […]
  • Corpus Christie police effectively coped with DWI offenders during the holiday season
    Even though the Corpus Christie Police Department (CCPD) put extra manpower on duty for the holiday season, they are a police department that continually works to reduce the number of drunk driving accidents. This year they had the financial assistance of the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) and received the Impaired Driving Mobilization (IDM) grant to have more officers on duty. Of course, DWI is not just a seasonal issue, but it is a daily problem. However, the highest rate of fatal DWI accidents tend to happen over the holidays. The years 2012 and 2013 saw between 1,203 and 1,036 […]
  • CellSlip allows drivers to keep phones on while driving, but block incoming communications
    Many smartphone-addicted individuals cannot or will not turn their phones off when they are driving, knowing it is not a safe. A new invention, however, might diminish texting while driving. The invention is called CellSlip and its simplicity makes it appealing. It is a bright red nylon slip-on sleeve reinforced with a conductive fabric that blocks radio frequencies. Thanks to the sleeve, the phone cannot ring with its various notifications of incoming texts, Facebook posts, Twitter tweets and phone calls. Once the slip sleeve is removed, all notifications pop on. Creator Mitch Bain, a software engineer, said that even though […]
  • Drunk or sleep deprived? Both are deadly
    Driving while drunk and driving while sleep deprived are equally dangerous, study finds A new study, released by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety (AAA), indicates that a drowsy driver, with fewer than five hours of sleep, has a crash risk comparable to a drunk driver with a blood alcohol content at or higher than the legal limit. The study also revealed that sleep deprivation increases accident risk. According to the study, those who clip 1 to 2 hours off of the standard recommended 7-hour sleep stretch double the chances of being involved in a wreck. The finding of AAA’s […]