Police Charge Driver in Horry County with Driving Under the Influence After Severe Collision

HORRY COUNTY, SC- Wmbfnews.com writes that a driver suffered severe injuries in a collision in Horry County. The young driver was traveling home from a youth group when the crash occurred. Classmates of the high school senior said they were planning to visit their friend daily while he was recovering from the collision.*

At this time, the boy remains in a medically induced coma after undergoing several emergency surgeries. 

The driver who struck the boy’s vehicle was under the influence at the time of the crash. The teen was driving a Mazda 6 and tried to turn left at the intersection of Socastee Boulevard and Luttie Road when the drunk motorist, who was speeding at the time, crashed his Nissan Pathfinder into the Mazda. 

Police charged the drunk motorist with felony DUI with great bodily injury. 

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), about 30 people are killed in drunk driving collisions every day. While the overall number of deadly drunk driving wrecks has declined over the past thirty years, more than 10,000 people still die in collisions involving alcohol-impaired motorists annually.  

The legal limit for driving is a blood-alcohol level of .08 percent per volume. However, even at a lower level, people are influenced by alcohol in their system. In fact, the limit for DUIs in Utah was recently reduced to .05 percent alcohol per volume. Studies indicate that people’s ability to drive is inhibited at this lower level of inebriation. There is some indication that other states will follow Utah’s lead and also lower the legal limit for driving under the influence. 

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Sources:https://www.wmbfnews.com/2020/02/21/one-facing-dui-charge-following-socastee-blvd-crash-that-seriously-injured-two-officials-say/ and https://www.nhtsa.gov/risky-driving/drunk-driving and https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/03/04/utahs-dui-law-limits/