Dealing with the consequences of an accident caused by drunk driving can be catastrophic, especially if the outcomes involve fatalities and serious injuries. Because of this, you need to seek damages from the liable party to help you through your medical recovery. Further, the payments should be sufficient to help you rebuild your life.

However, navigating the claiming process can prove to be tedious and draining for the victims involved. Working with a personal injury attorney is therefore advisable. At The Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm, we offer high-quality legal services to clients seeking damages across California. Thanks to our years of experience in personal injury law, you can expect satisfactory case outcomes when claiming damages from a drunk driver.

Persons Eligible to Claim Damages from a Drunk Driver

The civil process provides different categories of persons entitled to make claims against a drunk driver after an accident. The underlying factor should be that the persons directly affected by the drunk driver's actions, or if indirectly affected, can prove the relevance of their claims.

Therefore, various persons can file claims under the personal injury category to compensate for the harm caused. If you fall within any of the groups, you want to contact your personal injury lawyer as soon as possible for further directions. They include:

The Motorist Involved in the Accident

Mostly, accidents involving a drunk driver will affect another motorist colliding with the liable party. Most roads and highways provide few chances to avert the danger, mainly if the drunk driver controlled the vehicle recklessly.

Specific motorists to raise claims include personal car drivers, motorcyclists, truck and commercial drivers. Their matters are considered and assessed provided they raise a valid argument supported by credible evidence.

Passengers in the Vehicle Affected by the Accident

Moreover, any passenger inside the victim's vehicle can also claim against the drunk driver. They may opt to do so separately, especially if they were passengers in a commercial vehicle. Doing so allows all victim parties a chance to claim their damages individually for better dispensation of justice.

Thus, the passengers will only need to prove that they were inside the vehicle involved in an accident for a valid claim. You can acquire all the necessary evidence with the help of your personal injury lawyer for better chances of a successful case outcome.

Pedestrians Involved in the Collision

Similarly, any pedestrian who sustained injuries or other serious consequences should also have a chance to seek damages from the drunk driver. Their claims are considered particularly because they are at risk of sustaining severe injuries as their whole body is exposed to impact from the colliding vehicles.

Pedestrians include anyone who was rightfully within the access sidewalks when using the road. Consequently, they may have to deal with numerous medical complications stemming from the negligence or recklessness portrayed by the drunk driver. The category may also extend to cyclists seeking damages.

Property Owners Who Suffered Damages from the Drunk Driving

Lastly, property owners can face serious property damage owing to car collisions from drunk driving. For example, the drunk driver may run into your home property after veering off from the main road. Additionally, the accident may happen in a business area, whereby the vehicle runs into your store or stand.  The result is often significant damages in destroyed stock, leaving you with huge losses to account for.

Therefore, the court will handle your case and establish the best outcome for the incident. Once the drunk person is found liable for causing your damages, you can expect compensation for the losses caused.

How to Claim Damages from a Drunk Driver

The first step in claiming damages from a drunk driver is presenting your case to the police and your car accident attorney. By contacting the police, you will have created an avenue to store official records through police reports, witness statements, and any exhibits relevant to the matter.

Further, contacting your personal injury attorney is advisable to help you prepare your statement of claim. The document is integral in drawing the court’s attention to your matter and determining whether to issue compensatory orders in your favor.

Additionally, working with your attorney enables you to meet all the legal requirements expected from a claimant seeking damages. Since most car accidents caused by drunk drivers involve negligence, you want to build a case touching on the four requirements to prove negligence.

Establishing that Negligence Occurred

After filing your personal injury case with the respective court, you will receive orders to present your case for trial. During the hearing proceedings, you have a chance to establish the four elements of negligence in detail before asking the judge to issue compensatory orders.

The law of Tort encompasses the legal principles in question when handling a negligence case. Thus, your attorney will research the case circumstances and pair the events to respective factors associated with negligence. These are the four factors to establish before a judge can hold the drunk driver liable to pay damages:

The Liable Party Had a Duty of Care to Drive Safely

Every motorist should uphold basic traffic etiquette while on the road to ensure their safety and the safety of other road users. After completing a driving school course and obtaining your driver's license, there is a reasonable expectation to uphold the best standard while driving.

Examples of duties of care are driving safely to avoid reckless accidents, giving way when required, and being mindful of pedestrians on sidewalks. Further, you should prioritize emergency vehicles like ambulances and fire trucks for their ease of access to persons in distress.

You should also ensure you are fit to handle a vehicle to avoid endangering road users. Hence, sick, exhausted or drunk persons should refrain from driving because they may increase the risk of causing an accident.

Having established the duty of care that each driver owes to others, you can present the details available regarding the defendant’s conduct. Your attorney will then compare the expectations to the reality of what happened to determine if your case is triable.

The Party Breached Their Duty

A breach refers to default in compliance with the duty of care established by the standard driving requirements. Parties found liable will have engaged in a direct breach of duty, resulting in a requirement to pay damages to the affected party.

Normally, breaches occur in different ways, as each case presents different sets of circumstances. Due to this, your attorney should point out the specific action taken by the defendant that resulted in your accident. For example, drunk driving is a direct breach of a duty of care, as the driver is not in their right state of mind when operating the vehicle.

The Breach Caused Harm

The third element to prove is causation, whereby you will demonstrate how the defendant’s breach caused direct consequences for you. Subsequently, proving causation is often easier after having established that the breach occurred. This is because the events closely follow each other, meaning you will have established a coherent case.

Lastly, causation must involve the defendant present in court during the trial as your first defendant, as their actions will be the reference point for your damages.

You Suffered Damages from the Harm

Proving that you suffered significant harm and you now require damages is the final step in establishing negligence. At this stage, you want to present evidence on all the losses arising from the defendant’s drunk driving. You can prepare medical reports, billed receipts, and any other evidential source to show the adverse outcomes you faced.

Actions Amounting to Negligence Per Se

Alternatively, you may file a claim for actions done in negligence per se. This category involves actions amounting to legal violations by the drunk driver that caused an accident. Subsequently, negligence per se is easier to establish, as you will only need to prove that the defendant broke the law.

For example, section 23152(a) of the California Vehicle Code prohibits driving under the influence, while subsection (b) states that the legal limit for Blood Alcohol Concentration is 0.08%. Consequently, if the drunk driver in question surpassed the limit significantly, they are answerable to your claims. The court may therefore hold them accountable without delving into the four elements of negligence discussed above.

What to Claim When Seeking Damages

Upon establishing that the defendant is liable for the accident through negligence or negligence per se, you can justify your claims. The presiding judge will require proof of all claims presented to prevent unfair gain or exploitation of the defendant. This is because some claimants may exaggerate or provide false details regarding the extent of their damages, leading to disproportionate compensation.

Common claims to raise against the defendant involve compensation for:

Pain and Suffering

Naturally, most car accidents arising from drunk driving cause significant bodily injuries to the involved victims. Although some may sustain soft tissue wounds only, they will still face a period of pain and suffering, coupled with the inability to use their bodies normally.

Extreme cases involve patients undergoing intensive treatment and invasive surgical procedures to help with the recovery. Due to this, the patient is exposed to long durations of pain despite taking pain medication to help with the situation.

Thus, claiming damages for the period of suffering is advisable, as it helps you receive compensation for the ordeal. In court, the judge will be interested in the type of evidence presented to support your claims. For example, you may include a doctor’s report detailing the type of pain you underwent during the recovery process.

Additionally, you can rely on scientific research or expert evidence that touches on your experience and gives a broader explanation of your condition. This way, the judge will have a reasonable measuring point for your suffering and pain to award appropriate damages.

Medical Expenses

Secondly, victims will also need to receive compensation for the medical expenses spent after suffering injuries from the road accident. Typically, access to medical services is expensive, especially for patients without a comprehensive insurance cover. Hence, the liable party should take responsibility for their shortcomings and compensate for medical bills.

Since one victim’s claims differ from another’s, you want to gather as much evidence as possible to support your claim. This will eliminate the possibility of appearing disingenuous with the monetary figures included in your statement of claim.

The primary source of proof when seeking compensation for your medical expenses is documentary evidence. Therefore, your personal injury attorney should help you obtain material like original medical receipts and prescription forms to help strengthen your claims against the defendant.

Moreover, in-patient claimants can request medical records taken throughout their treatment period until they receive discharge directions from their doctor. Thanks to the details, you can easily access court orders on damages in your favor, as the medical reports will corroborate your testimony.

Additionally, you want to retain any imaging documents like X-Rays, CT-Scans or MRI Scans conducted during treatment. If any, records on your physiotherapy sessions should also be available for the court’s assessment, along with the expenses spent on each medical service. Upon consolidating your evidence, your personal injury lawyer will prepare it and include the documents in your filing documents for the court’s consideration.

Loss of Capacity to Earn

After suffering a traumatic injury, your mobility and cognitive skills may become diminished depending on the accident’s severity. As a result, your working and earning capacity becomes compromised, as you cannot perform tasks as efficiently as before. Others may lose their mobility completely, limiting their chances to regain employment significantly.

Your claim is therefore centered around the potential earning capacity lost after the accident. The judge has discretion on the amount to award and will mostly request an accurate estimate on the number of years you would have worked. Sometimes, the scale may be reduced from your initial claim to ensure reasonableness is maintained.

Nevertheless, your plight is the primary consideration, meaning you will have a chance to present arguments on why your figure should be maintained. Further, the judge will analyze the specific amount you request and create provisions accordingly.

Loss of Wages

Similar to claims raised for loss of earning capacity, you can seek compensation for the loss of wages. The claim is especially relevant for persons seeking ongoing treatment, meaning they cannot continue to work. Although you may choose to consolidate loss of wages claims with loss of capacity to earn, you can select either option depending on your circumstances.

The judge applies similar strategies as discussed above to determine whether the monetary amount presented in your claim is reasonably estimated. If you can support your claim with sufficient proof, the court will side with you and provide the rightful compensation.

Property Repair Expenses

As mentioned, some accidents involve damage to other people’s property, including buildings and structures surrounding them. Subsequently, property owners can raise claims against the drunk driver to hold them accountable for the losses caused.

Similarly, you can present the claim if the incident caused damage to your vehicle, amounting to considerable expenses on your part. Nonetheless, you will need to back your claims with valid sources of proof for credibility. Hence, you can request receipts and quotation documents from your mechanic or repair specialist. This way, you stand better chances of receiving the amount you claim.

Punitive Damages

The court also allows you to include punitive damages in your list of claims. The allowance serves to deter the liable party from drinking and driving in the future, ultimately resulting in reduced accident rates. However, the burden of proof rests on you to establish that the defendant deserves punitive damages on top of paying the compensatory amounts awarded to you.

Hence, you will need to show that the drunk driver caused the accident out of malice to operate the victim or for fraudulent purposes. Your personal injury attorney should help you build a valid case and present the evidence supporting the allegations.

For example, presenting details on the defendant’s demeanor just before the accident occurred can help support any subsequent claims you make regarding their drunken nature. If the demeanor was coupled with malice or an intention to disrupt through reckless driving, you might succeed in requesting punitive damages.

Sometimes, the judge may also apply their discretion to issue the punitive damages despite the claimant not listing them in their prayers. This often happens where the defendant’s conduct is outright and portrays impunity despite having caused a car accident from driving under the influence.

Contact a Personal Injury Attorney Near Me

When you or a loved one is involved in a road accident, a drunk driver caused, seeking compensation for harm and damage caused is necessary. Through the awarded damages, you can start rebuilding your life, as well as catering to any property damages arising from the incident. Overall, the compensation should be enough to help you regain your original life position. Despite your entitlement to the damages, you will first need to prove your case before a judge.

Doing so enables court orders to follow the correct civil procedure in the interest of justice. Hence, you want to partner with a skilled and experienced personal injury lawyer to obtain assistance in your matter. By contacting The Personal Injury Attorney Law Firm, you will improve your chances of recovering damages in full from the liable party. For more information on how to claim damages, call us today at 619-625-8707.