Sure Austin Labor Day DWI Arrests Going Down, But Are We Any Safer?

DWI Arrests Going Down, is it safer?

According to recently released data from The City of Austin and the Austin Statesman, Labor Day DWI arrests have gone down in Travis County for the 2nd straight year in 2015, continuing the trend started in 2014.

In 2013, there were 106 people arrested on suspicion of DWI in Travis County. In 2014, there were 88 individuals arrested for DWI. There were 69 arrests for this most recent labor day holiday.

This same trend has extended to total yearly DWI arrests in Travis County which are down year over year from 2013 to present. This begs the question: are Austin streets any safer?

This infographic, produced by local law firm TK Injury Lawyers shows that the answer may be no. The infographic, created to increase the safety awareness of Austin motorists, shows that despite these seemingly positive DWI numbers, fatal accidents in Travis County are up 81% in 2015 (76 so far compared to 42 in 2014). This statistic strongly indicates that dangerous drivers and/or accidents causing catastrophic injury in our area are actually on the rise.

Austin personal injury lawyer Trent Kelly, who often represents victims of these types of car accidents offers some advice to Austin motorists who want to protect themselves from the dangerous conditions on our roads: “There are three big steps that every Austinite who’s driving can take immediately to minimize risk and protect themselves and their families: 1. Always drive defensively and assume every driver around you is capable of acting erratically or negligently at any time; 2. Try to avoid being on the road late at night, particularly on weekends, when people are often driving intoxicated or fatigued; finally, 3. Some collisions are unavoidable despite your best attempts. However, you can make sure that you are carrying proper insurance coverages to protect you and your family if you are injured as a result. The best way to do this is to make sure you are carrying the highest limits available for Personal Injury Protection and Underinsured/Uninsured Motorist Coverage on your own auto insurance policy.” Trent goes on to say, “Carrying these coverages will help to ensure protection and compensation for you and your loved ones if something tragic occurs on the road and should be carried without exception.”

TK Injury Lawyers is an Austin, Texas based personal injury law firm that focuses on helping victims of auto and trucking accidents throughout Texas. Their office is located at 1002 Rio Grande, Austin, TX 78701. They can be reached via telephone at (512) 900-9000.