New Orleans DUI and DWI Accidents News

Drinking and driving do not mix. Teens and drinking and driving are even worse for safety, not to mention legality. WNBF talks about a teen who got caught drinking and driving after a crash in Cortlandville. In the early morning hours of April 25, according to police, a 19-year-old crashed a car on Pendleton Street. The driver lost control negotiating a curve and hit a culvert pipe. The car rolled onto its side. Two passengers in the car received minor injuries. The teen driver was unharmed, but police say he was intoxicated. He’s been charged with multiple offenses and has been ordered to appear in court next month. This crash could have been much worse. Drunk driving is responsible for thousands of fatalities each year and thousands more injuries.The penalties for drunk driving are also quite severe in many states. If this teen is convicted, he is going to learn a painful lesson both in the criminal courts and possibly the civil courts as well. Never drink and get behind the wheel. It is just not worth it. Pay for a cab or a ride share instead, or use a designated driver to get home. You could be saving your life, the lives of your passengers, and the lives of everyone else on the road.

Driving while intoxicated can land you in a heap of trouble, even if the drug is legally prescribed. If taking a medication puts you, your passengers, and the public at risk, you can be charged with DWI. So when the drug is illegal, it’s even worse. Fortunately, this case reported by WDSU didn’t end in an injury, but it did separate a mother and her baby. Deputies found a young mother and her baby in a car out in a field near Highway 439 and Adams Road. The engine was running, the mother was passed out, and the naked baby was crying in a car seat. When police questioned the mother, she appeared impaired and had heroin in her possession. The baby was turned over to DCFS after a medical examination. Police are unsure of how the car got into the field in the first place. Considering the circumstances, it is likely that the state will keep the child away from its mother for a long while, unless she cleans up and turns her life around. But it could have been much worse had there been an accident. We hope that the child gets the care that it needs and that the mother gets clean.

One of the worst accidents in the past few years was the 2019 Esplanade Avenue crash. Tashonty Toney was sentenced to 90 years in prison after the incident. Now a judge has refused Toney’s request for a reduction in his sentence. NOLA.com reports. Two riders were killed and seven injured in the crash. Toney was extremely drunk at the time of the crash with a 0.215% BAC. Four victims of the crash and his defense attorney came forward to say that the sentence that Toney received was too much and that it needed to be reduced to 15-20 years before parole eligibility, in addition to having his driving privileges revoked for the rest of his life. Toney pleaded guilty to the crash hoping for a more lenient sentence. However, the judge refused to give it at the time. Family members of the two slain victims came from across the country to argue that Toney needed to serve the full sentence. The original judge in the case heard their arguments and agreed that the sentence needed to stay as it was. However, she also said that the likely duration of the jail sentence will be around 35 years. Toney is 33 years old, which would make him very old at the time of his release. Needless to say, after today’s decision it’s not likely Toney will see freedom for a long time.

When a crash is egregious, the state has the option of pressing criminal charges against drivers. The accused can face both criminal charges and civil charges should they get sued by the victim or their representative. We do not know if the accused in this case is facing civil charges, but he has pled guilty to a death. According to NOLA.com, a man has pleaded guilty to killing a woman in a drunk driving accident as well as drug possession charges. He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison, five of which must be served. The accident happened last August in Terrytown early in the morning. The drunk driver rammed into the back of the victim’s car so hard it went off the roadway and flipped onto the roof. Then the car caught fire and killed the driver from smoke inhalation and burns. The drunk driver and his passenger were also injured. During the police investigation, the accused smelled of alcohol and had slurred speech. He also admitted to drinking five shots of gin before driving and had crack cocaine in his pocket. While it is good that he pleaded guilty, a criminal sentence may not be enough to make a family who lost someone to drunk driving whole. We hope that the family of the deceased is able to receive adequate compensation in this case for what this man did.

A few days ago, we talked about a crash that killed a pregnant woman that might have been caused by road rage. Now the Kenner police have arrested a woman in connection with that crash. WDSU reports. Shannon Alvarez is accused of driving while under the influence of controlled substances during the accident according to the police. They believe that the woman forced the other car off the road and into a utility pole over road rage. The accident killed the pregnant woman and the unborn baby. She was nine months pregnant. The accused was also injured and taken to the hospital for treatment. She has been charged with vehicular homicide and third-degree feticide along with other charges. Road rage and aggressive driving are a major cause of accidents. The NHTSA says that 66% of traffic fatalities are caused by aggressive driving. While DWI can be a cause for this behavior, simple anger causes plenty of accidents on its own. One of the ways to reduce the chances of a road rage accident is to avoid behaviors that can cause road rage in others, like distracted driving, leaving your high beams on, or failing to use your turn signals. By being a courteous driver, you not only keep yourself safe, but if you do get into an accident then you will have complied with the law. This can help your case.

As the Carnival season approaches, we want to take a moment to remind people not to drive while intoxicated. Drinking causes you to lose your judgment and slows your reaction times. This makes driving extremely dangerous. It could kill you or others. A tragic example of this happened last week in Covington. A man was arrested for a crash that killed a 91-year-old woman after toxicology results proved the man was drinking. The crash happened in November. The 68-year-old man was traveling on West Frontage road and failed to negotiate a curve. He went into the wrong lane and struck another vehicle on the passenger side. The passenger in that car was killed in that crash. Both drivers had no life-threatening injuries from the incident. The driver has been charged with vehicular homicide and DWI. DWI isn’t just a dangerous crime. It’s also an expensive one. It can cost you over $10,000 just in fines, DWI school, and more. So when you want to party, try walking or call a taxi or an Uber to get there and back. Leave the keys with someone sober so you can party without worry. You could be saving your life or the life of someone else.

I-10 has a lot of problems already due to its long and narrow bridges. Driving while intoxicated on I-10 just adds to them. WWLTV reports on a crash that left a person dead and another in critical condition that’s being blamed on DWI. According to the police, the crash happened around 3:40 AM on I-10 West near the Canal Street exit. Three vehicles were involved. They were all traveling in the center lane when the vehicle at the rear struck the one in the middle, causing a chain-reaction crash. The central car’s passenger was killed in the double-collision and the driver is in critical condition. The driver that started it all was not injured, but when police interviewed that driver they arrested him for driving while intoxicated. The driver at the front suffered minor injuries.The accident is still under investigation and the identities of the people involved have not been released. This is yet another reminder that you should never drink and drive. Drunk driving reduces your ability to react to road conditions and impairs your judgment. Combine that with vehicles and you have a recipe for death, not just for yourself, but also for other drivers. If you plan to drink to excess, use a designated driver or contact a ride to take you home. It’s not worth the risk.

Driving drunk is never a good idea. It opens up incredible liability against you if you are caught, and if you injure or kill someone while drinking and driving you can end up in prison for years. That’s what one man may be facing after pleading guilty to several charges related to a crash that happened at the Endymion parade last year. FOX 8 reports. Tashonty Toney has pleaded guilty to most of the counts against him from his actions that night. The only question is was he drunk enough to have the remaining two charges of vehicular homicide stick in his case. He is accused of driving his car into nine bicyclists on Esplanade Avenue while drunk. Two people died at the scene and seven others were hurt. Toney has admitted that he was the driver that night, but he and his lawyer argue that he was not drunk. At the time of the crash, he refused to take a breath test. When he was forced to take a blood draw later, he had a BAC of 0.14 percent. Now he will face a trial to see if he will be charged with vehicular homicide. The court intends to have over a dozen witnesses testify in the case. If he is found guilty, he could face 10 to 60 years for those charges, plus whatever the judge gives him for the other charges in his case.

NOLA may be known as a city of partying, but that doesn’t mean you can drive drunk without consequences. One driver found that out after allegedly causing a three-car wreck on I-10 near Canal Street. NOLA.com reported on the incident. Police say that Stephen Rankin was above the legal limit for alcohol consumption after he caused a three-car wreck. He has been charged with vehicular homicide and first-degree vehicular negligent injury. According to their story, he was speeding in the center lane near the Canal Street exit just before 4 AM. He crashed into the back of a Toyota Camry, which then crashed into a third vehicle. The passenger in the Camry was pronounced dead after being taken to University Medical Center. The driver is still in critical condition. Officers interviewed Rankin at the scene and smelled alcohol. He was arrested and taken to be tested. A chemical test sample showed a blood-alcohol level of 0.11%, which is above the 0.8% limit. He remains in custody. Assuming he is convicted, he faces between five and 30 years of imprisonment. He may also face civil charges from the survivors of the crash. The slain passenger left behind two young children. We hope that they are able to get some sort of compensation for their loss after this horrible incident.

It is a kindness to stop and help other drivers when they’re stranded, but it is also a dangerous act. Some drivers don’t care to pull over like they should and cause accidents. Add alcohol to the mix and the results can be deadly, as in this case reported by the AP. Todd Williams has pleaded guilty to three felony counts of vehicular homicide after he hit a disabled vehicle. That caused a chain reaction that threw the three victims off of the elevated expressway. They fell 30 feet to their deaths. When police tested Williams’ blood-alcohol content, he was at .11 percent, which is above the legal limit. A motorist had struck a rail and got spun around due to a blown tire. The victims had stopped their cards to assist in the matter but were thrown off the overpass when one of the cars was pushed into them from the chain-reaction crash. Williams now faces 21 years in prison for his actions. We hope that the families of the victims are able to receive some compensation after this horrible accident as well. We also want to remind people to never drink and drive because it can lead to situations like this. Now Williams will have to live with these deaths on his conscience for the rest of his life.

I-10 has a lot of problems already due to its long and narrow bridges. Driving while intoxicated on I-10 just adds to them. WWLTV reports on a crash that left a person dead and another in critical condition that’s being blamed on DWI. According to the police, the crash happened around 3:40 AM on I-10 West near the Canal Street exit. Three vehicles were involved. They were all traveling in the center lane when the vehicle at the rear struck the one in the middle, causing a chain-reaction crash. The central car’s passenger was killed in the double-collision and the driver is in critical condition. The  driver that started it all was not injured, but when police interviewed that driver they arrested him for driving while intoxicated. The driver at the front suffered minor injuries. The accident is still under investigation and the identities of the people involved have not been released. This is yet another reminder that you should never drink and drive. Drunk driving reduces your ability to react to road conditions and impairs your judgment. Combine that with vehicles and you have a recipe for death, not just for yourself, but also for other drivers. If you plan to drink to excess, use a designated driver or contact a ride to take you home. It’s not worth the risk.

Driving drunk is never a good idea. It opens up incredible liability against you if you are caught, and if you injure or kill someone while drinking and driving you can end up in prison for years. That’s what one man may be facing after pleading guilty to several charges related to a crash that happened at the Endymion parade last year. FOX 8 reports. Tashonty Toney has pleaded guilty to most of the counts against him from his actions that night. The only question is was he drunk enough to have the remaining two charges of vehicular homicide stick in his case. He is accused of driving his car into nine bicyclists on Esplanade Avenue while drunk. Two people died at the scene and seven others were hurt. Toney has admitted that he was the driver that night, but he and his lawyer argue that he was not drunk. At the time of the crash, he refused to take a breath test. When he was forced to take a blood draw later, he had a BAC of 0.14 percent. Now he will face a trial to see if he will be charged with vehicular homicide. The court intends to have over a dozen witnesses testify in the case. If he is found guilty, he could face 10 to 60 years for those charges, plus whatever the judge gives him for the other charges in his case.