In Texas, legally intoxicated is defined as having a BAC of. In 2013 alone, there were more than 25,000 alcohol-related crashes that involved the driver having a blood alcohol concentration of. In addition, every year there are thousands of alcohol-related crashes. Fortunately, the number of deaths in 2014 dropped down slightly to 1,014. This number represented 39.5% of all total traffic deaths in Texas, which was a 3.6% increase from the previous year. In fact, in 2013, Texas had the unfortunate distinction of leading the nation in the number of deaths caused by drunk drivers with 1,337 deaths. Melton, now a paramedic in El Paso, said he was doing multiple breathalyzer tests per week back then and has no recollection of O’Rourke.Unfortunately, Texas is one of the worst states in the United States for motorists who are injured or killed in alcohol-related crashes.

134 blood alcohol level, well past the legal limit at the time of.

But when Melton gave him the breathalyzer test, O’Rourke blew a. O’Rourke, who had turned 26 the night before, told Melton he was en route to Las Cruces when the wreck happened and claimed he’d only had two beers. “The defendant/driver then attempted to leave the scene,” Carrera wrote, and the witness “turned on his over head lights to warn oncoming traffic and to try to get the defendant to stop.”Īccording to the report, when Carrera asked O’Rourke if he was injured, the officer couldn’t understand what he answered “due to slurred speech.” Seeing O’Rourke’s “glossy eyes” and smelling alcohol on his breath, Carrera asked him to exit the vehicle, and he “almost fell to the floor,” Carrera wrote.Ĭarrera arrested O’Rourke and took him to a police substation, where breathalyzer administrator Cecil Melton, also a former officer with the Anthony Police Department, interviewed the future congressman and presidential contender.

Record of drunk drivers killed in texas