Devastating death rate from crashes sounds the alarm at Veterans Affairs

In the first years after returning from deployment, veterans of the two wars are 75 percent more likely to die in motor vehicle accidents than civilians of comparable age, race, and sex, according to a 2008 VA study. The rate for motorcycle deaths is an astounding 148 percent higher.

For returning vets, a tragic toll on the roads
Devastating death rate from crashes sounds the alarm at Veterans Affairs
By Brian MacQuarrie
Globe Staff
July 26, 2009

NORTHAMPTON - For Dominic Taverna, a two-tour Army scout who prowled Iraq for insurgents, the dream of peace and quiet lost some of its appeal when he returned to Revere in 2007.

“I was looking for that rush, and you just couldn’t find it,’’ said Taverna, 28, staring past his folded hands. “You’re driving 90 all the time. You’re hauling ass under overpasses. You just can’t flip a switch.’’

Former Army sergeant Carlton Duncan, 26, nodded knowingly. He would drink too much, Duncan said, before grasping the wheel of his car and driving without any memory of where he went or how he got there.

Dominick Sondrini, 28, a former Marine officer, raced his car for the pure thrill of driving 90 miles per hour, “because I knew I wasn’t going to get in trouble.’’ Police nearly always allowed Sondrini, who would flash his military ID after a traffic stop, to drive away without a ticket, he said.

Dangerous driving is often a byproduct of military bravado, the three veterans said. But among survivors of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the practice is now seen as a deadly crisis, prompting the Department of Veterans Affairs to take unprecedented preventive action.


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For returning vets, a tragic toll on the roads