Preventing Football Season Accidents in Spokane

In Spokane, many people enjoy watching the Eastern Washington Eagles and the Washington State Cougars. While watching or attending football games can be a lot of fun, however, it is important to realize football season can be a dangerous time. The problem: an increased risk of car accidents during football season, especially on game days. 

Football should be a fun pastime for people to enjoy this fall, but when people get drunk during games and then get behind the wheel, this entertaining sport can quickly result in tragedies. Everyone who is attending a football game or who is throwing a football party needs to be aware of the serious risk of drunk driving car accidents and should do everything possible to try to prevent accidents from happening.

Car accidents are a big risk during football season because watching sports and drinking alcohol goes hand-in-hand. As Bloomberg reported, one out of every 10 people who attends a sporting event will be legally drunk when they leave the football stadium.

Among people who go to tailgate parties before or during the football game, the potential for a drunk driving accident on football days is even greater. The added risk for tailgaters coms from the fact people who tailgate had a 14 times greater risk of being legally drunk as compared with people who do not attend a tailgating party.

Tailgating tends to promote binge drinking, which means people who tailgate may not always be able to make the best decisions when it comes to deciding whether or not to drive. Around one out of every four people who tailgates consumes five drinks or more, which is more than enough to put tailgaters well over the permissible legal limit for driving.

Tailgaters and all football attendees need to be aware of the risks of the drinking culture that tends to surround college sports, pro sports, and even arena sports. If you attend a game, you should make sure you have plans to either stay sober or to have a designated driver take you home. These plans for a designated driver should be made in advance of the time you begin consuming alcohol.

Those who attend football parties or who throw football parties also need to be aware of some of the risks associated with football season car accidents. People who drink at parties they attend should have designated drivers, just as people who attend games should. Those who are throwing parties should make sure to provide non-alcoholic beverages for designated drivers and should not allow anyone to leave their home driving a car if that person has had too much to drink.

If someone does make the choice to drive drunk during football season, victims injured by this high-risk choice should pursue a claim for compensation to cover their damages.