What if the Other Driver was Driving Under the Influence of Alcohol or Drugs?
When impaired motorists cause crashes, additional compensation is often available.
Because of pandemic lockdowns, motorists developed several bad habits, including drinking and driving. Pandemic lockdowns are now a distant memory, but intoxicated or impaired driving continues to increase. After decades of decline, alcohol now causes over a third of the fatal crashes in Florida.
Briefly, impairment is a partial loss of mental and physical faculties due to alcohol consumption. Usually, intoxication is a complete loss of faculties. As outlined below, a Brandon personal injury lawyer can obtain substantial compensation in either case. This compensation usually includes money for economic losses, such as medical bills, and noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Frequently, a third party is financially responsible for these damages.
Impaired Motorists
Scientifically, alcohol impairment begins at the first drink. This impairment usually includes slow motor skills and cloudy judgment. Therefore, impaired drivers cannot act quickly and decisively in fast-changing situations like roadway traffic. Evidence of impairment includes:
- Alcohol consumption before departure,
- Erratic driving before the wreck,
- Physical symptoms, such as bloodshot eyes, odor of alcohol, and unsteady balance, and
- Statements the tortfeasor (negligent driver) made to other people about impairment, consumption, or a related topic.
In civil court, the burden of proof is only a preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not). So, in an alcohol impairment case, a little proof goes a long way.
The duty of reasonable care, which applies to most drivers, requires motorists to be at their best, mentally, physically, and otherwise, before they get behind the wheel. Alcohol impairment clearly breaches that duty.
If a breach of duty substantially causes injury, a Brandon personal injury lawyer can obtain the aforementioned compensation. Most personal injury cases settle out of court and on victim-friendly terms, assuming a lawyer properly prepares the case before filing.
Intoxicated Drivers
When a driver is legally intoxicated and an emergency responder issues a citation, the negligence per se presumption usually applies.
Most Sarasota County-area law enforcement agencies have mandatory arrest policies. Emergency responders cannot let drunk drivers off with a warning. They must arrest these individuals.
Since a safety citation establishes the standard of care, a violation of a safety law is presumptively negligence. Attorneys usually must introduce some additional evidence to get the case over the hump and also to convince jurors to award maximum compensation. Usually, there’s a connection between the amount of proof the victim presents and the amount of compensation jurors award.
Third-Party Liability
Impaired or intoxicated tortfeasors usually obtain alcohol from commercial sources, usually bars or restaurants. If that’s the case, Florida’s dram shop law normally applies.
This law holds commercial providers vicariously liable for alcohol-related car crashes or other tort damages if the establishment knowingly serves alcohol to an individual who is habitually addicted to this substance.
Once again, circumstantial evidence is usually admissible on this point. This circumstantial evidence usually includes the tortfeasor’s purchase history at that location and statements the tortfeasor made about habitual addiction. The same burden of proof applies as well.
Connect With a Diligent Sarasota County Injury Attorney
Alcohol-related crash victims are entitled to substantial compensation. For a confidential consultation with an experienced personal injury lawyer in Sarasota, contact Carman Bevington & Finegan, P.A. We routinely handle matters throughout the Sunshine State.