If you suffered injuries from a car accident caused by a drunk driver, you’ll want to contact a personal injury attorney who handles complex car accident cases like those involving drunk drivers. While criminal courts focus on punishing those who have committed crimes (like driving drunk), civil courts serve those looking for justice and financial compensation for any wrongs they have suffered at the hands of others.
If the person who caused your car accident is convicted of drunk driving, in most states, civil court will make sure you are fairly compensated for your injuries, but there are no guarantees. The key to “winning” any car accident case is proving negligence, and your personal injury attorney will explain how this works when you meet for an initial consultation.
If a plaintiff (car accident victim) wins a personal injury lawsuit, the defendant (drunk driver) may be forced to pay punitive damages to the plaintiff in addition to compensatory damages (medical bills, lost wages, etc.). Punitive damages are awarded only in the most egregious cases, and drunk driving is considered a very serious offense in most states, especially when the drunk driving resulted in serious personal injury or death.
Personal injury claim vs. personal injury lawsuit
If you’ve recently been in a car accident caused by a drunk driver, you may have already hired a car accident attorney, or you may be wondering what the next step is: a personal injury claim or a personal injury lawsuit. Though those terms are often used interchangeably, they are not exactly the same.
A personal injury claim involves you and the “at fault party” or that party’s insurance company as you work out payment for your injuries; a personal injury claim brought by a plaintiff’s lawyer does not always go to trial and will be settled, most likely, through negotiation. A trial only happens when the injured party (the plaintiff) and the at-fault party can’t come to a fair settlement.
No Guarantees
It’s important to understand that if you’ve suffered injuries at the hands of a drunk driver, it’s not 100% guaranteed that you will win your case and be awarded monetary compensation to cover medical expenses, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Even if the drunk driver is convicted in criminal court, you will have to prove in civil court that your injuries were the direct result of the drunk driver’s negligence. The drunk driver’s blood alcohol content (BAC) will be a factor in determining whether or not alcohol use prior to driving contributed to the the plaintiff’s injuries.
In most cases, it should be quite easy for your attorney to prove your injuries were caused by the drunk driver, but in other more complex personal injury claims and lawsuits, pre-existing injuries and other factors may make the task of proving negligence a bit more difficult for your lawyer. And, in some states, it may come into play that you were partly responsible for the accident, and that, too, may affect how much money you’re entitled to following your car accident. Your personal injury attorney will address these issues as you work through your claim or lawsuit.
Simply put, car accident claims and personal injury lawsuits are complex, and when a drunk driver is involved, the level of difficulty increases substantially. With a knowledgeable, experienced car accident attorney on your side who has handled tough cases involving a drunk driver, your chances for success greatly increase.