Even with public service announcements and television and radio advertising campaigns focused on the risks and consequences of driving drunk, thousands of people are hurt and killed each year in alcohol-related car crashes.
Last year, 2023, saw a statewide increase in drunk driving crashes, injuries, and deaths. The Virginia Highway Safety Office reports 6,979 alcohol-related crashes, 4,400 drunk-driving-related injuries, and 293 deaths in these wrecks.
Many of these alcohol-related crashes injured or killed drivers, passengers, and pedestrians in the Richmond metropolitan region.
For example:
You can drill down into this drunk driving crash data here.
When a drunk driver collides with you while walking, driving, riding a bicycle, or riding in another vehicle, the resulting damage changes not only your life but also the lives of your family members.
But a Richmond drunk driving accident lawyer with our firm can help you hold the drunk driver accountable and financially responsible for the harm caused.
Continue reading to learn more about using the personal injury lawsuit process to get the damages deserved for your injuries or a loved one’s wrongful death in a drunk driving crash.
Then call our auto accident law firm at (805) 251-1620 or complete this online form to see if we will accept representation and prosecute your DUI accident case.
The Virginia Highway Safety Office defines an alcohol-related collision as a wreck where the police crash report lists a driver or pedestrian as drinking before the crash or where data suggests that one of these individuals had a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) level of .01 or greater as tested soon after the accident.
A Richmond-area driver violates Virginia DUI law when they:
In addition, a commercial truck driver, such as a tractor-trailer or school bus operator, violates the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Act (FMCSA) with a blood alcohol level of .o4 percent or more.
Virginia law allows victims of drunk driving to recover different types of damages through a personal injury claim.
These DUI accident damages fall into two categories: compensatory and punitive.
Compensatory damages include payment to make you whole for your actual losses from the alcohol-related crash.
In contrast, punitive damages, also called exemplary damages, punish and deter the conduct that led to the crash (i.e., drunk driving).
An experienced DUI crash lawyer can help you collect every dollar available from the drunk driver and applicable insurance policies.
Items that may affect the trial verdict or settlement amount of a drunk driving accident lawsuit include the following:
The Virginia Supreme Court has held that intoxication is relevant to determining the degree of a defendant’s negligence: ordinary, gross, or wanton.
Intoxication may elevate the defendant’s conduct to the level of negligence so gross, wanton, and culpable as to show a reckless disregard for human life.
You can, therefore, recover punitive damages in a personal injury case where a drunk driver caused bodily harm.
Punitive damages awards can exceed compensatory damages.
The amount of insurance coverage that may pay a judgment entered against the defendant influences whether you accept a settlement or go to trial in a drunk driving case.
Virginia has minimum auto liability insurance requirements. Low policy limits, however, are often inadequate to cover all the damages from a drunk driving crash.
You should, therefore, also search for assets and income the defendants have that you can garnish to collect a judgment. If these exist, a jury trial may be your best opportunity to recover a fair amount for your drunk driving injuries.
Negotiating a top-dollar drunk driving accident settlement or securing a jury verdict at trial takes more than knowing or having evidence that the defendant was intoxicated. You must be able to have the proof of the driver’s alcohol use and intoxication admitted into the record at trial.
Whether the judge will allow specific evidence of alcohol consumption or intoxication resulting in impaired driving is often the subject of motions in limine.
For example, a court will not allow witness testimony or documents saying the defendant driver smelled of alcohol as evidence of negligence without more.
Similarly, a court will exclude a defendant’s consumption of alcohol before the crash unless there is evidence showing the driver’s alcohol use affected their behavior, speech, or muscular moment.
Further, the defendant’s blood alcohol level after the crash will not help if the BAC falls below the threshold for a DUI charge.
You may, however, introduce evidence of the defendant driver’s alcohol consumption to support a finding of intoxication when:
Examples of supportive evidence to prove the defendant was drunk include:
Pay attention and document who was driving the other vehicle at the time of the accident and anything suspicious you observe. Tell the responding police officer what you saw.
Remember: You do not necessarily need to prove that the other driver had a BAC above the legal limit to win your negligence case. If you can prove that they were too impaired to operate their vehicle safely and made bad choices because of this, you have a solid drunk driving accident case.
No.
You must still prove the elements of a negligence claim to recover money damages in a drunk driving case.
An insurance carrier will not accept that its insured driver caused a motor vehicle accident just because the driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash.
You must prove that the accident happened because the other driver was drunk or otherwise drove negligently.
For example, if you strike an intoxicated driver’s car when that vehicle has stopped at a red light, you are still at fault for the accident.
In contributory negligence states like Virginia, you cannot recover damages in a drunk driving case when your acts contributed to the injuries.
The same statute of limitations that applies to personal injury cases that do not involve alcohol applies to lawsuits alleging the defendant’s intoxication caused the crash: two years from the accident date.
An intoxicated driver who causes a car crash faces not only civil liability but also criminal charges.
A drunk driver in Virginia faces the following criminal penalties if convicted of driving while intoxicated:
Drunk drivers may also lose their driver’s license or have it suspended.
Drunk driving causes significant pain, loss, and heartbreak.
Despite the consequences and frequent reminders of how dangerous driving intoxicated can be, alcohol-related crashes continue to occur at a high rate.
Although no amount of money can undo the effects of a drunk driving collision, our Richmond DUI accident attorneys can help you recover money damages through a civil action for bodily injuries or death.
Call us at (804) 251-1620 to see how we can help.
You pay no fee unless we recover compensation for you