ST. LOUIS, MO. (MSM Sports Media) – With fall football season underway and baseball season reaching its zenith, St. Louis car accident attorney Zane T. Cagle today called on Missouri residents to make sure they find safe ways home if they drink while attending sporting events or while watching games at bars or parties.
Cagle cited studies showing a relationship between drinking and attending or watching sports.
“Many sports fans will enjoy alcoholic beverages while tailgating, attending games and watching games at bars, friends’ houses and at home. Unfortunately, when the games are over, some fans will hit the road after having had too much to drink,” said Cagle of The Cagle Law Firm, a St. Louis personal injury firm that represents victims of drunk driving accidents in eastern Missouri and southern Illinois.
“Both the Cardinals and the Rams have home games this weekend. While I want all of the fans to have a good time, I also strongly encourage them to seek out designated drivers or call a cab if they have been drinking,” he said.
Alcohol seems to have become central to watching sports in America, according to recent studies. In 2011, a study by University of Minnesota researchers found that one of every 12 fans leaving major sporting events was intoxicated. The researchers tested almost 400 adults after 13 baseball and three football games and found they had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 percent or higher, the legal limit for driving under the influence in Missouri and Illinois.
The study also found pre-game tailgaters were 14 times more likely to still be drunk when the game ended.
A 2011 study from researchers at the University of Florida and Michigan State University checked blood alcohol levels of 466 tailgaters before football games at two universities. Of those tested, 40.2 percent at a Southeastern university and 31.9 percent at a Midwestern university had blood alcohol levels above the legal limit of 0.08. Further, larger percentages of tailgaters engaged in heavy episodic drinking, according to the study.
A 2009 report in the Journal of Sports Economics found that college towns see an average 13 percent increase in the number of impaired driving arrests after a home game, in addition to other increases in alcohol-related offenses.
“Statistics like these show the importance of education and prevention programs to keep people who do choose to drink at sporting events from getting behind the wheel,” Cagle said.
Cagle applauded a partnership between MADD and the National Football League to remind fans to “play the most important position in the NFL—the designated driver!” Through this partnership, MADD members attend select NFL football games promoting the importance of designating a sober driver before the game begins.
“Having seen what drunk driving can do to victims who were merely going about their regular business, I can’t stress enough how important it is for people to make sure they do not drink and drive, even when attending a sporting event,” Cagle said. “Both the Rams and the Cardinals have designated driver programs at their stadiums, and I encourage game attendees to take advantage of those programs to keep people safe.”
Even safe and sober drivers can be the victim of another’s careless choices, according to Cagle. It is crucial for innocent motorists and pedestrians who are injured or lose a loved one to a car accident caused by drunk driver to contact a Missouri personal injury lawyer to learn about their rights and options, he said.
“People have a responsibility to make good choices and drive safely,” Cagle said. “If someone makes bad choices and those choices harm others, the law allows them to be held accountable and for victims to be fully compensated.”
About The Cagle Law Firm
The Cagle Law Firm is a St. Louis personal injury law firm with an AV-rating by the distinguished Martindale-Hubbell legal directory. The firm serves clients in catastrophic injury cases in St. Louis and the greater St. Louis metropolitan area, including the eastern Missouri and southern Illinois communities of Ballwin, Belleville, Chesterfield, Collinsville, East St. Louis, Edwardsville, Kirkwood, Mehlville, Oakville, University City, Arnold, Columbia, Florissant, O’Fallon, St. Charles, St. Peters and Wildwood. The firm’s practice areas include car accidents, truck accidents, motorcycle accidents, construction accidents, railroad accidents, birth injuries, premises liability, wrongful death, defective products, workers’ compensation, chemical inhalation and dangerous drugs.
The Cagle Law Firm is located at 211 North Broadway #2420, St. Louis, MO 63102-2793 (local phone (314) 276-1681).
To learn more about the Cagle Law Firm, call (800) 635-3302 or use its online contact form.
