Updated on: 2/17/2020
Why would someone kill or injure another person in an accident and leave the scene?
Either the driver is hiding something or has something to protect - usually themselves. It would seem that some people, if they think they can get away with something, will try no matter the penalties for doing so. These people see right as what benefits themselves, and wrong as the problem of someone else.
Breakdowns of these reasons were collaborated into “DUSA” which stands for Driving in the USA.
D - Driving impaired (drinking, drugs, drowsy, distracted)
Breakdowns of these reasons were collaborated into “DUSA” which stands for Driving in the USA.
D - Driving impaired (drinking, drugs, drowsy, distracted)
U - Unlicensed driver or car (such as illegal immigrant), suspended or revoked (repeat offender), uninsured
S - Self-preservation (secret to keep, status to protect, scared), stolen vehicle, street racing
A - Aggressive driving (road rage), amorality, Age (youthful immaturity)
Driving impaired is a problem across the nation, but thanks to activist groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) the numbers have steadily gone down each year.
Even as the figures decrease, still 39% of fatal crashes involve an impaired driver.
The very unfortunate aspect of this problem is that in many states, an impaired driver who does not flee the scene of a drunk driving accident - especially if it is fatal - now faces the possibility of a heavier sentence than their counterparts that may flee. So why wouldn’t they leave the scene?
"Unfortunately, because hit-and-run crashes are punished less severely than alcohol-related crashes, we have given drunk drivers an incentive to flee the crime to try to escape having a BAC test done," as stated on MADD website.
Jurors have heard every story from hit-and-run perpetrators such as ‘I was sober when I had the accident but I was so upset I ran home and got drunk’.
The most common hit-and-run drivers are motorists who have been convicted of DUI in previous instances and flee the scene because they feel that they have nothing to lose.