Every 45 minutes, one person is killed by a drunk driver.

Take for example, in Temacula, a 41-year old mother of 3 was arrested by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on suspicion of murder and 3 counts of DUI causing injury after a fatal crash that killed her own daughter and injured her children.

Karen Honeycutt was driving the family SUV around 3 PM at Redhawk and Vail Ranch parkways when she inexplicably lost control over the vehicle. According to the authorities, the SUV struck a tree before it slammed into a light pole and rolled over.

The impact of the crash ejected 9-year old Chloe Honeycutt and her 17-year old sibling who were both unrestrained by safety belts. Another sibling, an 8-year old wore his seat belt and did not get ejected. Chloe died while her siblings were sent to the Riverside County Regional Medical Center for their injuries.

The Sheriff’s officials have reported that the mother also suffered injuries but is already conscious in the hospital as the injuries aren’t life threatening. Although the investigation is just beginning, alcohol appears to be a factor in the crash hence the arrest.

While men are traditionally and statistically, more prone to be arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol, more and more women have been picking up this bad habit the last few years and have been making the headlines for it. A few years back, drunk and drugged Long Island mother caused a fatal wrong-way crash which killed seven other people including her children.

Many people underestimate the potentially devastating effects of driving under the influence of alcohol. Not many know that alcohol is a central nervous system depressant that can lower a person’s motor, visual, and cognitive skills to the extent of increasing his chances of getting involved in a car accident the higher his or her blood alcohol concentration is.

Alcohol is especially dangerous for female drivers. BAC levels vary from person to person because of factors such as weight, amount of fat tissue, or stomach contents. However, for women, even just after 2 drinks, they can become substantially impaired. Women process alcohol differently than men and can attain higher levels of BAC and become more impaired even if they consumed the same amount of alcohol. Hence, more women are more likely to underestimate the effects of alcohol.

Driving under the influence of alcohol is a huge safety problem in the U.S. If you or your loved ones were involved in a car accident with a drunk driver, you should seek legal advice from lawyer to help obtain compensation for your injuries or losses.