Charlotte Injury Lawyers Blog
Can I Sue a Drunk Driver For Damages in an Accident?
Drunk driving is one of the most common types of impairment. A driver may be driving while under the influence of alcohol or drugs, and if they cause an accident, you may be able to file a lawsuit. Although an accident may be scary and may cause inconvenience, not all accidents are cause for litigation. If the other driver was negligent and caused the accident, and you were injured as a result, you may be entitled to compensation. A knowledgeable Charlotte personal injury attorney will review your accident and help determine your options.
Elements of a Personal Injury Claim
There are four elements of personal injury claims. You must be able to prove all four elements in order to bring a successful lawsuit. These elements include:
Duty of Care – A person has a legal obligation, or duty, to act with a level of care so as to prevent harm to others. Everyone has a requirement to act in the way that a reasonable person in the same circumstances would act.
Breach of Duty – The person must have breached their duty of care. In the case of a vehicle accident, the driver must have acted in a manner that violated the duty of care, such as speeding, driving recklessly, or failing to obey traffic laws, among other things.
Causation – In order to prove a personal injury claim, the person’s breach of duty of care must have directly caused harm to the victim. You must be able to prove that the injuries or damages incurred happened because of the other party’s improper actions.
Damages – A victim of a traffic accident may request compensation from the driver only when the victim suffered actual damages. For example, a person may be in an accident caused by another person, but was not injured. Therefore, there were no actual damages.
Negligence in Car Accidents
North Carolina utilizes the doctrine of contributory negligence in personal injury claims. This means that a person cannot get compensation if they themselves were partly negligent in the accident. Therefore, in order to win a personal injury claim, you would generally have to show that the other person was 100% responsible for the accident. In the case of a drunk driver, you will likely need to show that the driver’s impairment caused the crash.
Impaired driving, such as driving while drunk, is a negligent act. A person who gets behind the wheel after having had too much to drink is in itself irresponsible and rises to the level of negligence. A driver may be at fault even if they did not receive a citation or if they were not charged with DWI. You may still be entitled to compensation for your injuries.
If you were hurt in an accident with an impaired driver, you will want to make sure that you immediately call the police. Law enforcement will investigate the crash and will take the steps necessary to determine impairment. You or your attorney will work with the insurance company to seek compensation for damages. In cases where an agreement is not reached, you may be able to take the matter to court. To find out more, contact our legal team at Arnold & Smith, PLLC, at (704) 370-2828 to request a consultation.
The skilled personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to maximizing the financial recovery and obtaining justice for every personal injury client injured by another party’s negligence. The issues our personal injury clients may be facing include, but are not limited to, slip and fall injuries, wrongful death, product liability, catastrophic injuries, dog bite claims, car and truck accident injuries, motorcycle injuries, traumatic brain injury (TBI), nursing home negligence, spinal cord injury, boating accidents, and defective medical device injury. Our personal injury attorneys understand the devastating impact such an injury can have on a person’s life, and that the effects so often go beyond physical pain and suffering. The personal injury attorneys at Arnold & Smith, PLLC are dedicated to helping clients determine the strength of their claims, and to aggressively pursuing the means necessary to achieve the best possible end result for each client’s particular situation.
Source:
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/negligence
https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/personal_injury
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