Police say that a Bramwell, West Virginia man who was supposed to have an ignition interlock device on his car after being convicted of driving under the influence was driving drunk New Years' Day when he was involved in a head-on collision in Bluefield, West Virginia. Ignition interlock devices act as a form of breath testing machine that is hooked up to the ignition of a car.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has been calling for increased use of ignition interlock devices nationwide to cut down on repeat drunk driving offenses. Obviously, the ultimate goal of ignition interlocks is to reduce the personal injury and fatality rate attributed to drunk driving crashes.
The Bramwell man was arrested Sunday and charged with DUI involving a fatal accident and failing to have the ignition interlock device installed in the car he was driving.
Law enforcement says that the 28-year-old man slammed a Malibu registered to his parents into a Monte Carlo driven by a 50-year-old Bluefield resident shortly after 7:10 on the morning of January 1. Police say that, "The collision involved a driver-side to driver-side front-end impact," according to the Bluefield Daily Telegraph. The alleged drunk driver suffered only minor injuries in the wreck. However, the head-on collision proved fatal for the Bluefield man.
Drunk driving crashes cause far too many injuries and fatalities on West Virginia roads. While authorities may seek criminal justice on behalf of state interests, an accident victim, or the families of accident victims of a fatal accident may also seek justice in civil court.
Source: Bluefield Daily Telegraph, "Man charged in DUI death," Bill Archer, Feb. 25, 2013
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