Achieving Justice for Drunk Driving Victims
Drunk Driving Accidents
Drunk driving is a growing scourge on roads in North Carolina and throughout the country. If a drunk driver has injured you in a crash, they can face more consequences than just the time they may serve in jail and losing their driver’s license. They may also owe you a significant amount of money when you file a lawsuit against them. The drunk driving accident attorneys at the Howard Stallings Law Firm will lead the fight as you seek every dollar you are due in financial compensation after a drunk driving accident.
Drunk Driving in North Carolina
The number of drunk driving accident fatalities in North Carolina has risen sharply over the last decade, with a 25% increase over that time. North Carolina ranks as the 19th-worst state in the country when it comes to drunk driving fatalities per 100,000 residents. 28% of all car accident fatalities in the state involve a driver with a blood alcohol content of .08 or higher.
Recent increases in DUI enforcement have done nothing to solve the growing problem on the state’s roads. In 2021, there were over 21,000 convictions for DUI in the state that resulted in sentences.
Injuries in a Drunk Driving Case
Drunk driving accident injuries tend to be worse than those that are suffered in other types of crashes for the following reasons:
Reckless
The drunk driver is far more reckless, and these crashes tend to occur at higher speeds
Action
Drunk drivers do not take evasive actions to avoid the accident because of their altered condition
Circumstances
Other drivers involved in the crash are not able to take any evasive actions themselves because they cannot anticipate what the drunk driver may do under the circumstances
Drunk driving tends to result in more head-on and T-bone crashes, which are the most dangerous types of accidents
How to Win a Drunk Driving Accident Case
You may be surprised to learn that the criminal case against the drunk driver does not have very much to do with whether you can win a drunk driving case. The prosecutor is trying to win a conviction, which means that they have a higher standard of proof than you would have in your civil case. In a criminal case, the standard of proof is that the prosecutor must prove that the drunk driver broke the law beyond a reasonable doubt. Basically, this standard means that there must be 100% certainty.
In a civil case, you must prove your claim by a preponderance of the evidence. This standard is a lot less strict than what the prosecutor must prove because it means that you show that it was more likely than not that the driver was responsible for your injuries. Thus, you can win your case even if the driver is eventually found not guilty.
Further, the fact that the driver is convicted does not have much bearing on your civil case unless the driver actually pleads guilty. In reality, this rarely happens because drivers often plead no contest as part of a plea bargain, which is not the same as admitting guilt.
Dealing with the Insurance Company in a Drunk Driving Accident Case
The insurance company knows right off the bat that it has a serious problem when their policyholder has injured you in a DUI accident. The fact that the driver broke the law does not get the insurance company out of the obligation to pay you full damages. However, the insurance company does not really care about you and your situation. They are only interested in paying you as little as possible for your accident-related injuries.
The insurance company will still make you low settlement offers and try to complicate your claim as much as possible. However, when you hire an experienced drunk driving accident attorney for your case, you have far more leverage than you think. The last thing that an insurance company wants to do is face a jury with these facts, so you can hold out for more money in settlement negotiations.
Damages in a Drunk Driving Accident Case
The drunk driver must pay you for all the harm that you have suffered, whether it involves the actual financial losses that you have suffered or for the effects of the physical injuries with which you are dealing.
Your drunk driving accident damages can include the following:
- Medical bills
- Property damage
- Lost wages
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional distress
- Embarrassment and humiliation
Punitive damages may even be a possibility in a drunk driving case. Usually, punitive damages are exceedingly rare in a car accident case, but angry juries may want to send a message to the drunk driver. Punitive damages are the reason why you have more power than you think in a drunk driving civil case because the at fault driverknows that they may fare very poorly in front of a jury.
Dram Shop Liability in a Drunk Driving Accident Case
There is always a possibility that you may be able to add another defendant to your case, and one who has deeper pockets than the driver you are suing. North Carolina has dram shop laws that allow you to hold the establishment or person who served the alcohol to the drunk driver under certain circumstances.
North Carolina law clearly states that:
“It shall be unlawful for a permittee or his employee or for an ABC store employee to knowingly sell or give alcoholic beverages to any person who is intoxicated.”
It may not be easy to prove that an establishment sold alcohol to an intoxicated person. Nonetheless, your attorney could perform an investigation that could yield evidence that the establishment broke the law and should be held responsible.
How Howard Stallings Law Can Help
When you hire the Howard Stallings Law Firm for Your Case, we can do the following:
- Investigate the accident and gather evidence of fault to prove your case
- Estimate the value of the damages that you are seeking in a claim or lawsuit
- Deal with insurance companies on your behalf (both the other driver’s insurance and your own)
- Negotiate a fair settlement on your behalf that fully pays for your damages
Contact a North Carolina Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Today
If you or a loved one has been injured in a drunk driving accident, Howard Stallings Law can help. Call us today at 919-821-7700 or send us a message online to schedule a free initial consultation with one of our personal injury attorneys. We are not afraid to trade blows with the largest insurance companies when they stand between our clients and the money they deserve after an accident. We never ask you for any money upfront, and we charge nothing unless we help you resolve your case.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions that we are commonly asked about drunk driving accident cases:
Your family can file a wrongful death lawsuit against the responsible driver under North Carolina law.
Not necessarily. You just need to prove that the driver was negligent, but having evidence of drunk driving could increase the chances of success in your case.
Even if law enforcement does not want to share test results with you, an experienced attorney can subpoena this evidence on your behalf.
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