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Football season is underway, which means that there are added risks of car accidents for motorists who are out on game days. ABC News reported on a troubling study conducted by researchers from the University of Minnesota.

The researchers administered breathalyzer tests and an anonymous survey in order to find out how much football fans were drinking at games. One in four football fans who were tailgating and who participated in the survey said that they had consumed at least five alcoholic beverages. The participants in the survey who took the breathalyzer and had the highest blood alcohol concentration range said they had consumed an average of 6.6 drinks while tailgating and watching the game.

Tailgating sports fans were found to be much more likely to drink than others who attend sporting events, according to the ABC News article on the University of Minnesota study. Tailgaters were 14 times as likely as other attendees of the game to be considered legally intoxicated when they leave the football stadium.

However, people who tailgate are not the only ones who consume alcoholic beverages during the game. ABC's troubling report indicates that as many as 1 out of every 12 people watching the football game leaves the stadium legally drunk after the event. Young people under age 35, whether they tailgate or not, were eight times more likely to be drunk than older fans.

What Does it Mean for Drivers and Road Safety?

Considering that football games are played throughout Florida and the United States, the news that so many football fans are drunk is bad news for road safety. The lead investigator on the University of Minnesota study said that the study results suggest that there are thousands of people who are over the legal alcohol limit around the United States on each game day. It is unknown how many of these intoxicated spectators end up getting behind the wheel when they are impaired.

More intoxicated people on the roads means there is a significant increase in drunk driving collisions. A personal injury attorney should be consulted by victims who get hurt because drunk drivers should be held accountable for paying for losses and damages of those who they harm.

Drunk drivers may not be the only ones who end up being sued. Sports stadiums could possibly face liability if they continue to serve someone who is already clearly impaired. ABC News reported in the same article on a different study conducted earlier in which people who pretended to be drunk tried to buy more alcohol at sporting events.

A full 74 percent of the people participating in that study were served by the stadium vendors, even though they were already impaired. Florida Statute Section 768.125 imposes liability on vendors under limited circumstances when they sell alcohol to someone underage or habitually addicted to the use of alcohol. Contact the Spivey Law Firm, Personal Injury Attorneys, P.A. today if you have questions or concerns about an incident involving an impaired individual.