On Saturday night, two collisions happened within minutes of each other in Lawton. One of the crashes sent a child to the hospital. The first crash involved a suspected drunk driver. According to KSWO ABC News Channel Seven, some time around 7:00 p.m., a white sedan struck a concrete barrier on Cache Road near Quanah Parker Trailway. The car then went into the median of the roadway. Law enforcement officers were swiftly on the scene, where the driver was described as combative.
Police officers were able to subdue the driver, and he was taken to jail on suspicion of drunk driving. The roadway quickly turned chaotic when an additional driver in a gold sedan rear-ended a black corvette. The corvette then struck an SUV, and the wreck left the sports car wedged underneath the SUV. Initial reports indicate that the driver who rear-ended the corvette may have been rubber-necking at the time of the collision.
One child was taken to the hospital for treatment of injuries, but there’s no word on his condition or which car he was riding in. Very few details have been released about these wrecks other than the arrest. There’s no word on whether or not any other drivers were given citations.
Different Forms of Distracted Driving
Although we usually think of texting behind the wheel as the ultimate form of distracted driving, a variety of internal and external factors can be considered distractions. When drivers “rubber neck” or focus on the environment outside of their car for too long, they can put other motorists and roadway users at risk. A typical example is when a driver is rubber-necking and doesn’t realize the car in front of him or her is stopped.
If a driver is checking out an accident on the side of the road, they’re not focusing on the cars around them or on the road in front of them. We frequently hear about cars getting rear-ended when drivers are looking at totally unrelated collisions.
Drunk Driving in Lawton, OK
In 2012, there were 10,322 people killed in crashes involving drunk drivers across the U.S. That means over 10,000 deaths were totally preventable. Drunk drivers put everybody on the roadway at risk. If you or a loved one has been injured in a crash due to a drunk or distracted driver, contact the skilled team at the Altman Legal Group at 580-353-4878 for a free consultation today.