Losing someone in a tragic car accident
is unfortunately is not common in the US but it does happen. According to the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention,
10,076 people were killed in accidents involving drunk driving in 2013, which
is 31% of all traffic related deaths in the country. Numbers like this keep drunk driving accident lawyers up at night.
Of these, 1,149 were children between 0
and 14 years of age. Over 1.3 million drivers were arrested for a DUI in the
same year either for drunk or drugged driving. For the most part, anyone who is
injured or has lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident has the right to claim compensation from the drunk driver’s insurer.
Remember the Titans!
When a drunk driver hits and kills someone,
the state DA’s office files a charge of manslaughter or of vehicular homicide
against the driver. One of the many cases is that of Gerry Bertier which comes
to mind at this time. He was star football player who was on his way back from
a banquet thrown to honor T.C. Williams Titan Football team. He was driving his
mothers’ Chevy when he crashed the vehicle leaving him paralyzed from the waist
down in 1971.
He would have been an outstanding
college linebacker. Would he have made the NFL? Not sure about that but he was
one of the best linebackers that year in high school.
After Bertier recovered he started
helping others who faced similar injuries and won gold in the Paralympics. His
success was cut short when was killed in 1981 by a drunk driver. The driver
crossed the center line and struck Bertier’s vehicle killing him a couple of
hours later in Charlestown, Virginia on Route 20. A manslaughter charge was
brought against the driver.
Bertier was a fantastic human being who
shined a wonderful light on humanity and on this planet. Ryan Hurst did a
wonderful job of showing that in the movie Remember the Titans.
They did not have the Internet in 1981. Al Gore had not
invented it yet. If something like this happens now, finding a marvelous legal professional
is not hard. Go right here Drunk-Driving-Accident.USAttorneys and find that drunk driving accident lawyer that can put
up points on the board.
Keeping track of both criminal and civil
cases
If you have lost someone close you will
have to file a personal injury lawsuit to receive compensation for your loss.
Drunk driving accident lawyers point out that the first thing you should do is
find out if the driver had auto insurance and if he/she has assets. Sometimes
drivers are underinsured but they have significant assets (do not count on that
though – if they have assets they normally have insurance) that can be attached
through a court order to pay the plaintiff. If the driver does not have
anything worthwhile to seize, then you can use the dram shop laws to sue the
person who served alcohol to the driver.
You can also get your own insurance
company involved if the other party does not have insurance. The law will take
care of them as well – they will be facing criminal charges for not being responsible
and having insurance.
Drunk driving accident attorneys say
that you can file a claim for financial losses if the deceased was the major
earning member who provided the monetary needs of the family. In addition, you
can also submit a claim for funeral fees and hospital bills.
Will a DUI charge impact the damages in
civil lawsuit?
In a civil lawsuit your drunk driving
accident lawyer will try to attain additional punitive damages along with
regular damages. It is a decent bet that the court will grant punitive damages which
is basically additional penalties.
The sunny news is that the defendant
cannot say that he was not intoxicated since his blood report showed only a limited
amounts of alcohol or drugs. To win in a lawsuit the legal counselor will have
to show that the alcohol content was enough to induce impairment impeding his
ability to control the vehicle safely.
Even though there are variations in
state laws, the legal limit is a BAC of .08%. This means that drivers caught
with a BAC of .08% or above is liable to be charged with a DUI. However, some
states have zero tolerance laws for minors found to be driving with any alcohol
in their system at all.
If you are suffering emotional from an
agony and financial loss due to injuries or the loss of a loved one in an
alcohol-related accident, make sure to reach out to a drunk
driving accident lawyer right away for legal assistance. The Bertier family was
certainly saddened when Gerry was killed. Your legal representative will
determine how much you can sue the driver for consolidated damages.
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