PourinDiesel

Settle this dispute for me.

To me this is an urban legend that people promote..

You know the old saying...."big accident but the drunk driver walked away without a scratch"

Well no one ever talks about the drunk that got his head cut off or the accidents where every one gets killed and there is a 2 gallons of blood on the interstate.

What do you guys think?

stock03

It seems like intoxicated drivers survive most fatal accidents.

If a drunk is killed in an accident, I don’t think the media would hide this.

Last week we had a fatal where the drunk driver also died. Of course he killed 4 out of 5 in the other vehicle. His BAC was reported as being over .24%, which is four times the legal limit in most states.. So some drunks don’t make it.

rustyshakelford

well the people that are intoxocated are more likely to be relaxed and not tense up at the time of impact, thus more or less going w/ the flow. the same rings true for drivers that fall asleep at the wheel. for those of us that are alert and or awake, we tend to tense up or brace for impact. an example would be if you see that you gonna wreck, the instinct is going to be bracing for it. so if you hit another vehicle, tree, pole etc and your arms are locked at the elbows, there will most likely be some type of injury to your arms or shoulder. but for those mva where there is "2 gallons of blood" on the road way, it doesnt matter how much alcohol you dranks, as long as the blood was yours, you arent going anywhere in anything other than a body bag. nobody wins when people drink and drive.

brett

this post isnt backed up by any confirmed source, but just my observations while working as a professional FF/EMT-I

BigBlue

I think one thing that allows them to survive is that instead of tensing up and bracing they just go limp and mold and bend easier.

Ramdriver15

had two drunks crash up the street a few years back and they had llost their heads, arms and legs, in an s-10 at 120 runningfrom police, not good. they took out towo light poles and a street light! The yard they ended up in well one of their heads was 100yeard rom the first poll. The rest of them was svcattered across the church parking lot, oh yeah did mention it was in front of the church!

MedicShawn

I agree they do better is what would normally be a survivable accident. But there are some things alcohol can't save you from. You are also Much more likely to be in an accident when drinking and driving.

This is from my personal observations as a Firefighter/Paramedic and a Death Investigator.

Hillcountry

My uncle was killed by a drunk driver in upstate Wisconsin. Drunk hit him head on. Drunk survived the accident...didn't survive grandpa when he found him....

DynoDynamicsNE

As a retired Firefighter/Paramedic, I'll agree. Drunks have a lower reaction time and they don't brace until after impact (if they brace at all). I have seen drunks get killed, but those are pretty serious accidents, and it's likely that no one would survive whether they were drunk or not.

As bretteaton posted above, these are my perceptions and not based on any known documentation.

BC847

Same observations here. 14(+/-) years EMTD/ALS.

Buies Creek Fire & Rescue

westcoaster

Alright!!
Gotta go run some errands, time to top up with a couple of rum and cokes and take a six pack of beer for the road.





*cough*
I'll just conveniently overlook the fact that a drunk is far more likely to get into an accident in the first place....

Herrin811

Like has already been said, the physiological effects of alcohol actually prevent injuries....Specifically long bone fractures, etc. because the intoxicated person doesnt brace against the impact...They just go along for the ride....But then there are the accidents which are unsurvivable, no matter what....But mostly, its just a simple fact of life...Just like cockroaches, you cant kill a <>bum

Which leads me to Darwinism....Survival of the fittest...This cant be true....I honestly dont know how some people make it day to day....And these people continue to reproduce!!!! God help us all!!!

MedicShawn

You just gotta remeber stupid people keep us in business........

RickG

I went to alcoholism.about.com , put "less severe injuries" in the search and was surprised to see that studies show drinkers are one and a half times MORE likely to suffer severe injuries and the injuries are 30% more severe than sober people experience . When I went to driver orientation for Quality Carriers they showed a movie of a young woman that survived severe burns after being hit by a drunk driver . The survivors of accidents sometimes suffer very severe life changing injuries . This could happen in any wreck , not just those caused by drunk drivers .

Equalizer 2

The lawyers protect them.

My sister has been in two MVAs this past year and while she didnt' get severely physically injured both vehicles she was in were totaled. She does have trouble when she sees a close call, she tenses up and it is tough on her. In neither case was a drunk driver involved. The first one was someone that just didn't see her in her dually driving down the road and broadsided her and the second was a woman that rear ended her at a stop sign. The woman was doing something in the back seat with her baby/child and failed to see the stop coming up.

rockittboy

its true. i ve worked as a medic in the N.CA bay area for a little over 2 years and 2 years of EMT and FF exp. before that. i would say 6 out of 10 times the drunk gets by with minor or no injuries in a fatal that they cause.