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In the last several decades, national and state efforts to curb drunk driving have resulted in a 36 percent reduction in impaired driving fatalities. However, despite improvements in education and innovations to make finding an alternative way home easier, there are still many avoidable deaths and injuries from drunk driving.
Drunk drivers may not respond as they usually would to other drivers, and as a result, these crashes are often very serious. People injured by impaired drivers may suffer broken bones, internal injuries, head or traumatic brain injuries (TBI), back or spine injuries, soft tissue injuries, and more.
Unfortunately, we see many cases where the impaired driver has only minor injuries, and the other parties suffer severe injuries, leading to considerable medical bills, missed time at work, and multiple other damages. In 2019, for instance, Georgia saw 353 deaths due to impaired driving and even more injuries.
What Can a Dekalb County Drunk Driving Attorney Do to Help?
Just because the other driver is arrested for impaired driving doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll admit fault in your accident. Worse, at least partially, their insurance company might insist you were at fault.
While you’re recovering from painful injuries and trying to pay your medical bills, you could find that the drunk driver’s insurance carrier has no intention of paying your claim or has massively undervalued it.
An experienced drunk driving attorney will fight for your rights to compensation in these situations. We’ll assign our investigators to gather evidence about the accident and then develop a strategy to show the drunk driver’s culpability.
If the insurance company claims you did something wrong, we’ll review the evidence and work to refute it. Even if you did make a small mistake, it may not have affected the collision, and if it did, your percentage of fault may be much smaller than the insurance carrier claims.
How Does Shared Fault Work in an Insurance Claim?
Georgia is a modified comparative negligence state with regard to personal injury claims. This means that more than one party can be at fault in an injury situation like a car accident.
When these claims go to court, a jury is asked to assign a percentage of fault to each party. If you are less than 50 percent at fault, you can collect damages from the more responsible party, but your percentage of blame will be deducted from your final award.
But most car accident cases are not resolved in court—only a few cases conclude this way. Instead, we usually negotiate with the other driver’s insurance company to get you a fair settlement.
However, shared fault is still crucial because the other driver’s insurance company may claim you had more responsibility. Then, they can justify refusing to pay your claim or reducing your payout.
You may wonder how this relates to your drunk driving claim. The reality is that sober people make driving mistakes, too (although not as often).
While a drunk driving arrest certainly reflects poorly on the other driver, it doesn’t prove that you were utterly blameless in the accident.
Many people tell us that it should be obvious the drunk driver was entirely at fault, but unfortunately, the insurance company’s adjuster won’t see it that way. They will scour the police report on your accident, looking for any detail they can interpret to fit the narrative that you were at least partly to blame.
Even if they know they can’t prove you were mostly at fault, they may work to show you were even 10 or 20 percent responsible.
Your insurance company will negotiate fault with the drunk driver’s carrier if you don’t have a lawyer. Your insurance adjuster may think it’s highly unlikely that you played any role in the accident, and they will argue your case to keep their own costs down.
They are also likely to agree to some percentage of fault below 50 percent because they will not have to pay anything. You, however, will lose a percentage of your recovery.
How Can You Prove Fault in a Drunk Driving Accident?
Your lawyers will work to demonstrate that you had no or minimal responsibility for the accident. To do so, we’ll visit the crash scene, search for photo or video evidence, interview witnesses, look for additional witnesses who may have been missed, and request event data recorder (EDR) data from both vehicles.
Our investigators are thorough and often locate evidence that strengthens the client’s case.
What if the Charges Against the Drunk Driver Are Dropped or They Are Acquitted?
We understand how infuriating it can be to think the drunk driver who caused your accident, potentially leaving you in pain for weeks or months, won’t face any criminal charges. Unfortunately, this sometimes happens in the criminal court system, where a prosecutor must show that a defendant is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This is often a high burden of proof; in some cases, there simply isn’t enough evidence to try a case successfully. Sometimes, there is an issue with how the evidence was collected, processed, or stored, and a judge determines the evidence can’t be used.
In other situations, a jury may be unconvinced by the evidence for some reason.
Fortunately, these outcomes should not impact your civil claim for injuries in a car accident. We only have to prove that the drunk driver was at fault, not that they were drunk, and the burden of proof is lower in civil court.
Sometimes, in addition to seeking compensation for their medical bills and other losses, clients feel that pursuing a car accident claim helps them obtain some measure of justice they couldn’t get in criminal court.
What Damages Are Available in a Drunk Driving Accident Case?
We will talk through all your losses and help you arrive at a reasonable amount of compensation. Here are some common damages we will discuss:
- Medical bills. Spending time in the hospital can be expensive, even with health insurance. Some people discover after the fact that a procedure or treatment isn’t covered. Others require recurring appointments for treatments like physical therapy and soon find the copays overwhelming. We’ll consider your current medical bills and expected future costs and wait until your treatment is complete to settle your case. Or, if you will likely need ongoing care for years, we can estimate your future medical expenses.
- Lost income. While recovering from serious injuries, you may be unable to work. Some injured people use up all their paid time off and then have to take unpaid time for weeks or even months. You shouldn’t be forced to lose your PTO or go without a paycheck because of the drunk driver’s actions, and we’ll fight to get you compensation for both paid and unpaid time off.
- Lost earning potential. More severe accidents sometimes result in permanent injuries that cause disability or disfigurement. If you’re no longer able to work at all or have to take a lower-paying job, you deserve compensation for your decreased earning potential.
- Pain and suffering. Being hit by a drunk driver can leave you with physical and emotional pain and distress. This is considered non-economic damage because it doesn’t come with an invoice for a specific amount, but we can still arrive at a fair amount of compensation for your pain and suffering.
- Property damage. Car repair bills can also be costly, and in some cases, your vehicle may be completely totaled. We’ll work to ensure you receive the full value of your repair or replacement costs, including depreciation due to the accident.
- Wrongful death. The most tragic possible consequence of a drunk driving accident is the death of one or more people involved in the crash. Losing a loved one in such a preventable way can be devastating, and at the same time, you may find yourself forced to deal with funeral bills and a loss of financial support. We will work to recover any costs associated with the accident and other losses like the decedent’s income so you can move forward without struggling financially.
- Punitive damages. These are only sometimes available in personal injury cases because they aren’t meant to compensate the injured party for a specific loss. Instead, they’re intended to punish the defendant for a particularly reckless or egregious act. In some drunk driving cases—especially those that resulted in death or very severe injuries—you may receive punitive damages.
How Can You Get Help From a Dekalb County Drunk Driving Law Firm?
Please contact the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm for a free consultation. We’ll review your case, answer your questions, and outline your compensation options.
There are no upfront fees; if we take your case, you won’t pay anything until we win or settle it.
Attorney Ali Awad founded the CEO Lawyer Personal Injury Law Firm and rapidly developed it into one of the fastest-growing law firms in the country. Through his dedication to helping injured people and their families, he has recovered millions of dollars in compensation for his clients.
When he’s not working on a case, you can find Mr. Awad on social media, offering down-to-earth legal advice to more than a million followers. Work with The CEO Lawyer today by calling 833-254-2923.