Here’s a sobering fact. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 34 people lose their lives in alcohol-related car accidents every single day in the U.S. That’s one life taken every 42 minutes.
The tragic part is that most of these deaths could have been prevented. Nobody thinks after one drink that when they get behind the wheel of a car, they could end a life just like that.
But what happens when you’ve incurred a traumatic brain injury or sustained broken bones? And you were a sober driver. Yes, they’re arrested or hit with penalties or fines. However, crash victims are not financially compensated. That’s when you turn to a civil court.
That’s one side of the picture, but real healing takes much more. Here are some ways victims can find purpose and regain peace after a tragic mishap and loss that follows.
Planting the Seed
Losing a life is the ultimate sacrifice, but it’s the people you leave behind who are forced to pick up the pieces. Grief holds you hostage until it feels like the very air you breathe is toxic.
Occasionally, that grief sparks a seed, a thought that grows with purpose. Maybe you’ve lost someone to a drunk driving accident, or perhaps you were the one behind the wheel. You’re searching for answers. A reason to live. Any reason.
Hopefully, these stories of purpose will help you to heal.
Holding Negligent Parties Accountable
For some victims, healing comes with letting the law take its course. Drunk driving accidents often result in personal injury lawsuits.
You might require long-term treatment or physical therapy. Someone has to be responsible for paying those bills. In some cases, individuals who are seriously injured by a drunk driver can recover punitive damages.
Loewy Law Firm recommends a skilled drunk driving accident attorney who can force the insurance company to cover all your expenses.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD)
The 1988 Carrollton bus crash was one of the deadliest drunk driving accidents in U.S. history. Twenty-seven lives were lost that day, most of them children.
Presently, a modest sign marks the site where the drunk driver in a pick-up was driving on the wrong side of the road. It crashed into an oncoming school bus. According to reports, the driver had a blood alcohol concentration three times the current legal limit.
The bus was transporting 67 people on their way home from King’s Island amusement park. It burst into flames on impact.
That day will forever be ingrained in the minds of Kentucky residents. Families were shattered. They needed a space to grieve and share their stories of loss and heartache.
Many people turned to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) for support. Started by Candace Lightner, who lost her daughter in a drunk driving accident, the NPO has been a pillar of support for thousands of victims.
MADD pushes for tougher laws and public awareness about alcohol impaired driving, drunk driving deaths, and vehicle safety.
Forgiveness is Letting Go
Most people associate Tim Allen with his comedic timing and award-winning roles. Recently, he had to confront a hard truth: coming to terms with his father’s death.
Allen revealed on X (formerly Twitter) that Erika Kirk’s speech at her husband, conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s, memorial, inspired him.
His dad was killed following a drunk driving accident, and it took Allen decades to finally forgive the man responsible for his death. Taking to social media, the actor wrote: “When Erika Kirk spoke the words of the man who killed her husband: ‘That man… that young man… I forgive him.’ That moment deeply affected me.”
During a previous interview with ABC News, Allen questioned whether he could have prevented the accident. Presently helming the new sitcom Shifting Gears, he told Good Morning America, “I’ve always been amazed with people that have trauma in their lives but still have a sense of humor and still expose themselves to people.”
The Way Forward?
Back in 2000, Congress set the legal blood alcohol limit (0.08) for drunk driving. It remains higher than in many other countries. Safety advocates say lowering it could help cut deadly crashes in the U.S.
James Fell is a principal research scientist at NORC at the University of Chicago. During a 2024 interview with PBS News, he noticed an increase in impaired drivers, mainly due to a lack of enforcement.
Using Utah as a real-world example, he explained that since the state lowered the legal blood alcohol limit to .05, it has seen a 20% decrease in motor vehicle crash fatality rates. In theory, if the rest of the country enforced the same rule, it would save 1,800 lives a year.
For people who have lost loved ones to drunk driving crashes, it’s a big step towards credible change. And that’s why so many refuse to pin their loss on pain, and instead transform it into a legacy that lives on.