With more than 60 years of combined years of experience, our law office is all too familiar with the devastation caused by drunk driving. A car accident involving a drunk driver affects not only the lives of those involved, but the lives of their family and friends. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that more than 10,000 people are killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes each year. That’s one every 51 minutes! The sheer cost of these accidents is estimated to be more than $37 billion annually. It’s also reported that a driver with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.10 or higher is seven times more likely to be involved in a fatal car crash than someone who doesn’t have alcohol in their system.
When you are in an accident involving a drunk driver, you are not guaranteed compensation from them. They will be prosecuted criminally and have their license taken away, but that does not directly impact the victim. A victim’s losses may include medical expenses, loss of wages, emotional distress, and pain and suffering.
Gathering information is the key to convicting a drunk driver and possibly being awarded compensation for punitive damages. (Punitive damages are meant to punish someone for bad behavior.) It’s critical to collect as much information as possible, as soon as possible. Our lawyers investigate the driver’s background, places they were drinking, how much they drank, the people they were with, and how long they waited to get on the road. We also find out if the drunk driver has a history of DUIs or if their BAC was .15 or higher. If we have this information and can prove gross negligence, you have a greater chance of receiving extra monetary awards. In cases where the drunk driver caused severe injury, we can look at dram shop liability. This means the restaurant or bar that served the drunk driver alcohol can be held liable for damages under certain conditions if they continued to serve alcohol to the drunk.
Insurance companies that represent drunk drivers do not want to defend them. We use this to our advantage and aim to resolve claims quickly and fairly. Drunk drivers have complete disregard for the safety of others and their poor choices often result in head on collisions, paralysis, disability, and wrongful death. Not surprisingly, many convicted drunk drivers are repeat offenders.
If you have been injured by drunk driver, it is important to contact a personal injury attorney quickly to investigate the facts and evidence. In many case we can work with the District Attorney’s office to make sure the drunk is prosecuted to full extent of the law.
