A recent car accident in Munster was just one of 100+ driving offenses committed by a man who moved from Highland. When the man moved to Munster, Highland police contact the police department in the man’s new town to notify them of his driving record, according to the Munster Community. The man had received so many driving violations that the Highland police turned to the Lake County prosecutor’s office for help.
The department asked that his tickets be dealt by a different court to stop them from being dismissed. Still, these efforts didn’t stop the dangerous driver. Recently, he is accused of causing the drunk driving car accident in Munster that took the life of a Lansing man.As a result of the most recent accident, the driver was charged with nearly 20 traffic and criminal offenses. Those 20 offenses were added to the 100+ offenses that he already had. Some of the previous offenses included watching TV while driving, failing to obey traffic signals, driving without a seat belt, driving with a suspended license, driving without car insurance and speeding.
Our Highland car accident attorneys understand that the man also had two operating while intoxicated counts. One of them was dropped down to reckless driving while the other was taken down to a misdemeanor. When the drunk driving car accident happened, the man was driving on a six-month restricted license that only allowed him to drive to and from work.
“Law enforcement did whatever it could to keep him off the street,” said Highland police Cmdr. George Georgeff. “Once he moved out of our town, he pretty much stayed clear of Highland.”
Unfortunately these types of occurrence aren’t uncommon. According to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, about 20 percent of all accidents that result in a fatality involve a driver who does not have a proper driver’s license. AAA examined accident reports from 2007 to 2009 in a recent study to get a grasp on just how many of these improperly licensed drivers there are on U.S. roadways.
Of the drivers who were involved in fatal accidents:
-Nearly 7 percent had a driver’s license that was either suspended or revoked.
-More than 1 percent had a driver’s license that was either canceled or denied.
-Another 5 percent were completely unlicensed.
These fatal accidents, involving improperly licensed drivers, took the lives of nearly 21,050 people.
With improperly licensed drivers, hit-and-run accidents and drunk driving accidents are much more common. More than 51 percent of the drivers who left the scene of an accident during the study time were improperly licensed.
With improperly licensed drivers come uninsured drivers. Motorists are asked to be cautious on our roadways. With no insurances comes a harder time covering the damages resulting from an accident. If you’re involved in an accident with an improperly licensed driver or with an uninsured driver it’s critical for you to contact an experienced lawyer to help you to get the compensation you deserve.
If you, a loved one of a member or you family has been injured or killed in a car accident in Indiana, call Burton Padove for a free consultation to learn about how to ensure receipt for financial compensation for injuries you or your family members sustain at 219-836-2200.
Additional Resources:
Munster man’s driving record a license to kill?, by Susan Brown, Munster Community
More Blog Entries:
Despite Contradicting Actions, Drivers Know How to Prevent Car Accidents in Indiana and Elsewhere, Indiana Injury And Family Lawyer Blog, January 24, 2012
Flaky Laws Fail to Reduce Risks of Distraction-Related Car Accidents in Indiana, Indiana Injury And Family Lawyer Blog, January 11, 2012