Palm City Woman Had BAC Three Times the Legal Limit When She Struck & Killed Motorcyclist
A 24-year-old Palm City woman had a blood alcohol content nearly three times the legal limit when she struck and killed a motorcyclist with her car on September 7.
The woman, Amanda McClure, and two of her friends were in her Lexus ES350 after leaving a Palm Beach Gardens bar. She hit a 1984 Harley Davidson from behind while driving about 75 mph. The motorcyclist, John Henry Regan, aged 58, died at the scene of the accident.
Both passengers in the Lexus said they were looking at their phones at the time of the accident and did not see what happened. Investigators at the scene said that McClure’s eyes were red and her speech was slurred. A blood test showed that her blood alcohol level was .24%. The legal limit in the state of Florida is .08%.
McClure apparently refused to speak with investigators at the scene, and turned her back on troopers when they tried to ask questions about the crash. Records indicate that McClure was convicted of DUI in March of 2009.
Statistics have shown that the number of fatal car accidents as well as DUI accidents in West Palm Beach are consistently higher than those for the state of Florida as a whole. In 2010, 123 traffic-related deaths occurred in Palm Beach County alone. Along with two other counties, Palm Beach County is one of the top four counties in South Florida for numbers of vehicular fatalities in the state of Florida. In 2010, Florida saw an average of 645 car crashes per day.
In addition, there are nearly 31,000 motorcyclists registered in Palm Beach County. Even though the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has been working toward stemming the number of motorcycle fatalities across the state, motorcycle accidents resulting in injuries and wrongful deaths are still occurring on a regular basis. In fact, motorcycle fatalities in Florida alarmingly rose by almost 30% from 2009 to 2010.
DUI accidents are 100% preventable. If you or someone you love has been injured due to a drunk driver, it is imperative that you speak with a West Palm Beach personal injury attorney as soon as possible. In addition to the criminal charges the drunk driver will be facing, they can also be subject to a civil lawsuit brought by the victims of the accident or their families. In addition, it is possible for an establishment that served alcohol to be held liable if their patron then got behind the wheel of a car and caused injuries to others. For more information regarding your rights if you or someone you love is the victim of a drunk driving crash, contact the DUI injury attorneys from the Law Offices of Wolf and Pravato at 1-954-633-8270.
