The California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) reported that there were 1,385 misdemeanor DUI convictions and 15 felony DUI convictions in Long Beach, but Los Angeles County had 24,520 total misdemeanor cases and 504 felony cases. In May 2019, KCAL-TV reported that the California Highway Patrol said it had arrested 741 people for suspected drunken driving offenses within the first 30 hours of the Memorial Day weekend.

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) reported that 304 accidents in Long Beach were “alcohol involved” in 2016. That figure was an increase from the 278 alcohol involved collisions in 2015, itself an increase from the 230 such collisions in 2014.

Causes of Long Beach DUI Accidents

California Vehicle Code § 23152 establishes seven different ways a person can commit a DUI offense. It is unlawful for a person:

• who is under the influence of any alcoholic beverage to drive a vehicle.
• who has 0.08 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a vehicle.
• who is addicted to the use of any drug to drive a vehicle.
• who has 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a commercial motor vehicle.
• who has 0.04 percent or more, by weight, of alcohol in his or her blood to drive a motor vehicle when a passenger for hire is a passenger in the vehicle at the time of the offense.
• who is under the influence of any drug to drive a vehicle.
• who is under the combined influence of any alcoholic beverage and drug to drive a vehicle.

The ways a drunk or drugged driver may cause an automobile accident can vary depending on circumstances. In many cases, the intoxicated driver will commit some kind of traffic violation.

Some of the most common causes of DUI accidents include, but are not limited to:

• Speeding
• Construction Zone Violations
• Improper or Illegal Turns
• Distracted Driving
• Failure to Obey Traffic Signs or Lights
• Driver Fatigue
• Reckless Driving
• Inclement Weather
• Other Traffic Violations

The thing you must keep in mind with a DUI accident is that the drunk or drugged driver will likely face criminal charges. That criminal case is completely independent of your own civil action.

The distinction is important because a person who is not convicted of DUI can still be held civilly liable for their accident. Remember that a person’s guilt must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt, but a civil action only needs to be proven by a preponderance of the evidence, a far lower burden of proof.

A good example of this difference the case of former pro football star O.J. Simpson. After being acquitted of murder in the deaths of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman in 1995, Simpson was found liable for their wrongful deaths just two years later and was ordered to pay $8.5 million in compensatory damages and $25 million in punitive damages to the families.