Driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs can cause a driver to do things that they wouldn’t likely do while they are sober. A driver who is under the influence often makes severe distance or direction misjudgments resulting in an accident that can involve serious injuries or even death.
ABC 15 in Phoenix reported on their website that a driver’s disorientation and confusion as a result of drug and alcohol influence may be the culprit in a wrong-way crash along State Route 347 near Maricopa on Sunday night. The accident left one person dead and another person seriously injured.
Authorities say that the fatal crash happened just before midnight on Sunday, February 5th, when a driver was heading northbound in the southbound lanes of the highway near Casa Blanca Road. A spokesperson for the Arizona Department of Public Safety (DPS) said in a statement that the wrong-way driver crashed into another vehicle head-on.
Emergency crews arrived on the scene and rushed the driver of the vehicle that was hit by the wrong-way driver to an area hospital for treatment. Doctors at the hospital later pronounced the driver dead. Authorities have not released any further information about the deceased driver.
The wrong-way driver also suffered severe injuries in the crash. Their identity and current condition have also not been released.
DPS officials say that the accident is still currently under investigation. Investigators do believe, however, that impairment played a possible role in the fatal crash.
