Impaired driving – by whatever means – is a serious problem. The staticstics below are just a sampling:

• Over 50% of accidents are caused by alcohol impaired drivers.
• Over 50% of all fatal highway crashes involving two or more cars are alcohol related.
• Over 65% of all fatal single car crashes are alcohol related.
• Over 36% percent of all adult pedestrian accidents are alcohol related.
• In 2016, 10,497 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for 28% of   all  traffic-related deaths in the United States.
• In 2016, more than 1 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of  alcohol or narcotics.
• In 2017, 1,830 drivers aged 15-20 were killed in alcohol-related crashes.
• More than 300,000 people were injured in drunk driving accidents in 2017 in America.

How can an insurance company help with this extremely serious problem?
Simple answer – by getting tough!

Consider the following:

If alcohol and/or drugs are involved in a crash, the driver’s coverage becomes conditional:

• Coverage reduces to liability only
• Coverage completely dropped following settlement, with no opportunity for reinstatement

A gentleman of my acquaintance made the following deal with his two sons when they reached of driving age:

If you drink and drive, and are caught, you will lose your driving privileges until you graduate from high school.
No ifs, ands, or buts.

This problem is completely preventable.
By. Simply. Not. Doing it.

If the consequences gets severe enough, possibly our collective behavior towards impaired driving will change.

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