How You Can Recover Compensation If You’re Hurt by an Impaired Driver
The holidays have long been a time of good cheer. Unfortunately, when that cheer involves alcohol, the consequences can be dangerous and even deadly, particularly when a person consumes too much of the holiday spirit and gets behind the wheel of a car. Studies show that drunk-driving accidents, particularly those causing fatalities, increase during the holidays. One such study reported more than a 20% increase in drunk-driving deaths, from 30% to 37%, according to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
How can you stay safe on the roads with the increased incidence of drinking and driving during the holidays? What’s the process for recovering compensation if you’re hurt in a motor vehicle accident caused by a drunk driver around the holidays?
Tips for Avoiding Injury in an Accident Caused by a Drunk Driver During the Holidays
Though there’s no way to guarantee your safety, there are some things you can do to minimize the risk of an accident with a drunk or impaired driver:
- Be aware of times when there’s likely to be more drunk drivers on the roads—Evenings and weekends tend to be peak hours for drinking and driving. Studies routinely show that more drunk driving accidents occur between midnight and 3:00 am. If at all possible, don’t drive during those hours.
- Drive defensively—Be aware of all motorists around you. If someone is driving erratically, pull off the road and call 911. Whenever possible, give yourself as much distance as possible between your vehicle and the cars behind or in front of you.
- Don’t do anything to compromise your attention span on the road—Don’t drink and drive yourself. Make certain you have plenty of rest before you get behind the wheel of a car. When driving, don’t use handheld devices, don’t try to eat or groom yourself while behind the wheel, and don’t turn your attention from the road to other passengers.
- Know where potential traffic congestion will be and plan an alternate route—If possible, find ways to get where you’re going on a route with less traffic.
- Host the party yourself—The surest way to avoid a collision with a drunk driver is to stay home.
How Can You Recover Compensation for Your Losses After a Motor Vehicle Accident Involving a Drunk Driver?
When you’ve suffered injuries in a car, truck, or motorcycle accident, there are typically two potential sources of compensation for your losses: insurance benefits and a personal injury lawsuit. Texas has not adopted no-fault auto insurance, so you may be able to have some medical expenses covered by your own health insurance policy, but most of the damages you recover will come directly from the at-fault party or their insurer.
Typically, you’ll need to file a lawsuit, naming any party that caused, or contributed to causing, the accident, including the drunk driver and their insurance provider. To successfully recover in a personal injury lawsuit, you’ll need to establish that the drunk driver was negligent. A claim of negligence requires you to show that the defendant failed to act as a reasonable person would, thereby causing an accident that resulted in actual losses.
In Texas, a conviction for drunk driving establishes negligence per se, or as a matter of law. Accordingly, if the driver who caused your injuries either pleads guilty to drinking and driving or is convicted of that offense, you won’t need to prove in court that their actions were unreasonable. You’ll only need to show the full extent of your losses.
It’s not uncommon for a drunk driver to have little or no auto insurance, even though Texas law mandates coverage. In those situations, you may be able to turn to your own insurance policy, provided you have added an uninsured/underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) rider to your policy. You can, of course, sue the defendant directly, but you may also bring in other parties when the facts warrant, including:
- A person or establishment that served alcohol to the defendant
- The designer, manufacturer, or distributor of any product that malfunctioned, causing the accident
- The defendant’s employer, if the defendant was driving in the course of their employment when the accident occurred
Contact the Experienced Personal Injury Attorneys at Bailey & Galyen
At the law offices of Bailey & Galyen, we have fought for the rights of personal injury victims throughout Texas for more than 40 years. Over the past four decades, we have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars in judgments and settlements for clients who have suffered personal injury because of the negligent acts of others, including people injured in motor vehicle accidents caused by a drunk driver.
We will be your advocate throughout the legal process, from the investigation of your accident and filing of a complaint through trial and final resolution of your lawsuit. Contact us by e-mail or call our offices at one of the convenient locations listed below. Our phones are answered 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
