Passenger in Vehicle Dies in Drunk Driving Accident

Drunk driving accident

COMMACK, NY – According to Longisland.news12.com, a man is accused of being under the influence of alcohol when his driving triggered a fatal car accident that killed a passenger in his vehicle. The driver, 48-year-old Patrick McMahon, was driving on Dovecoat Lane on Sunday at about 2 in the morning when he lost control of his vehicle. The car struck a driveway pillar before hitting a tree and finally rolling over in someone’s front yard.

The victim, Steven Sarvis, 32, was in the backseat of the vehicle at the time of the crash. Sarvis was transported to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead.

McMahon and another person who was in the vehicle at the time of the crash were both injured, but neither McMahon nor the other passenger suffered life-threatening injuries.
Following the accident, McMahon was charged with driving while intoxicated. According to the police, McMahon lives about a block away from where the crash took place.

While drunk driving has become less common in recent decades, many crashes are still the result of driving under the influence. According to responsibility.org, since 1982, the rate of drunk driving fatalities has declined by around 63 percent. Still, as of 2017, drunk drivers accounted for around 29 percent of all vehicle-related fatalities. All 50 states have a legal driving limit of .08 percent alcohol by volume. In 2017, 10,874 people died in crashes with drivers who were above the legal limit. Out of that total, 68 percent of those drivers had blood alcohol levels of .15 percent or higher indicating that they were nearly two times the legal limit.