Recovering from a car accident is taxing, sometimes costing tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. The stress of this can be compounded when you consider that you are in pain and possibly out of commission to complete your daily duties or even go to work. At Towey Law PLLC, we don’t want you to manage a legal case without a reputable Buffalo car accident attorney to help. If someone else’s choice to drive drunk left you injured, you deserve to have time and space to rest and focus on your recovery.
What Evidence Can Help Prove Liability in a Drunk Driving Accident Case?
Strong evidence is often the foundation of a successful drunk driving accident claim. While evidence of impairment is important, it is also necessary to establish how the driver’s actions caused the collision and the injuries that resulted.
Police reports frequently play a significant role because they document the officer’s observations, witness accounts, and any citations or arrests that occurred at the scene. Chemical test results, including breath, blood, or urine tests, may provide additional evidence regarding impairment.
Photographs of the accident scene, vehicle damage, skid marks, traffic signals, and road conditions can help illustrate how the collision occurred. Witness statements may also provide valuable information regarding the driver’s behavior before and after the crash.
Medical records are another critical piece of evidence. They help establish the extent of your injuries and connect those injuries directly to the accident. In some situations, surveillance footage, dash camera recordings, or data from vehicle systems may provide further support for a claim.
The more evidence available, the easier it may be to demonstrate liability and pursue compensation for the losses caused by the accident.
What Should You Do After a Drunk Driving Accident in Buffalo?
The steps you take after a drunk driving accident can affect both your health and your ability to pursue compensation. Your priority should always be seeking medical attention. Some injuries may not be immediately obvious, and prompt treatment helps protect both your well-being and your claim.
If possible, gather evidence at the scene. Take photographs, obtain contact information from witnesses, and make note of anything unusual about the other driver’s behavior. If law enforcement responds, cooperate with the investigation and obtain information about the police report.
You should also keep records of medical treatment, expenses, missed work, and other losses related to the accident. These records can help document the damages you have suffered.
Avoid discussing the accident on social media or providing detailed recorded statements to insurance companies before understanding your legal options. Insurance carriers may attempt to use your statements against you later.
Finally, consider speaking with an attorney as soon as practical. Early legal guidance can help preserve evidence, protect your rights, and ensure that important deadlines are not missed while you focus on recovering from your injuries.
Who May Be Held Liable for a Drunk Driving Accident?
Many people assume that only the drunk driver can be held responsible after a collision. While that is often true, there are situations where other parties may also share liability depending on the facts of the case.
For example, if the drunk driver was operating a commercial vehicle or was acting within the scope of their employment, an employer may bear some responsibility for the accident. Likewise, if poor vehicle maintenance contributed to the crash, another party responsible for maintaining the vehicle could become involved.
New York also recognizes certain circumstances where businesses that unlawfully serve alcohol may face civil liability. Under the state’s Dram Shop laws, an establishment that illegally serves alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or to someone under the legal drinking age may be held responsible if that individual later causes injuries to another person. These claims are highly fact-specific, but they can provide an additional source of compensation in some cases.
Because every drunk driving accident is different, identifying every potentially liable party is an important part of maximizing the compensation available after a serious collision.
Dealing With Insurance Companies After a Drunk Driving Accident
Many accident victims assume that liability will be straightforward when the other driver was intoxicated. Unfortunately, insurance companies may still dispute the value of a claim, question the extent of injuries, or attempt to negotiate a settlement that does not fully reflect the victim’s losses.
Insurance adjusters may ask for recorded statements, request broad medical authorizations, or encourage injured victims to accept an early settlement before the full extent of their injuries is known. Accepting an offer too soon can make it difficult to recover additional compensation if complications develop later.
It is generally advisable to keep records of all medical treatment, save receipts for accident-related expenses, and avoid discussing the accident on social media while a claim is pending. These simple steps can help protect your claim and reduce opportunities for an insurance company to challenge your case.
An experienced attorney can handle communications with insurance companies, negotiate on your behalf, and work to ensure that any settlement reflects both your current losses and the long-term impact of your injuries.
How Can a Drunk Driver’s Criminal Charges Affect Your Injury Claim?
One of the unique aspects of a drunk driving accident is that there are often two separate legal matters taking place at the same time. The drunk driver may face criminal charges brought by the state, while injured victims pursue a separate civil claim for compensation. Although these cases serve different purposes, the outcome of the criminal case can sometimes affect the civil claim.
A criminal conviction does not automatically guarantee compensation for accident victims. However, evidence gathered during the criminal investigation may be useful in a personal injury case. Police reports, breathalyzer results, field sobriety tests, witness statements, and other evidence may help establish that the driver was impaired at the time of the collision.
Even if criminal charges are reduced or dismissed, an injured victim may still be able to pursue compensation through a civil claim. The burden of proof is different in criminal and civil proceedings, meaning a personal injury case may still succeed even when a criminal conviction does not occur.
Because criminal and civil matters often overlap, it is important to understand how evidence from one proceeding may impact the other. An attorney can help evaluate how the facts of a criminal case may strengthen your injury claim.
Drunk Driving Accidents in Buffalo
Unfortunately, people decide to drive while drunk daily. The New York State Police state that impaired driving results in an injury every two minutes. While the actual injuries and outcomes of an accident with a drunk driver aren’t necessarily different, they can provide some additional factors to consider.
One of the main differences between a drunk driving accident and a typical accident where all drivers are sober is that there will likely be a criminal case as well. It is not uncommon for criminal cases to be heard before civil cases that pertain to the same event. If the liable driver is convicted, it may be used as evidence in your Buffalo uninsured motorist accident lawsuit to strengthen your case.
Injuries in a Buffalo Drunk Driving Accident
Drunk driving accidents cause a little over 30% of all fatal crashes in the state of New York, according to the New York State Police, and we already know that injuries in these accidents are all too common. If you have lost a loved one in a drunk driving accident, you may benefit from speaking with a Buffalo wrongful death attorney to learn about your options. Many of the injuries people sustain from drunk driving accidents may take weeks or months to recover from, and some may never fully heal. Examples of injuries more commonly seen at Towey Law PLLC are:
- Traumatic Brain Injury
- Internal Injuries
- Broken Bones
- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
- Death
Buffalo Drunk Driving Accident Damages
In a Buffalo personal injury case, damages refer to the value of the overall costs of your injuries. Most frequently, you will see terms like special and general damages or economic and non-economic damages to categorize your claims. Special and economic damages refer to the cost of things that can more easily be determined based on receipts. These might be medical invoices, auto repair costs, or pay for time you missed from work because of your injuries.
General or non-economic damages refer to less tangible costs, including pain and suffering or general loss of quality of life. The amount of general damages claimed will typically correlate with the amount of special damages. For example, if you sustained $60,000 in medical costs, it is reasonable to think that your pain and suffering are more extensive than if you had a $4,000 medical bill.
Outcome of a Drunk Driving Accident Case
In just about any situation, a Buffalo drunk driving accident lawyer will be able to recover more money in damages than you would alone. These amounts will vary based on the specifics of each case. Similarly, the time each case takes is often challenging to estimate. In an accident where you have a very strong case, you may be able to quickly negotiate an appropriate settlement amount without a ton of back and forth. However, sometimes, it is necessary to take a case to trial.
Regardless of the situation, when you have a Buffalo truck accident attorney, you will come in better prepared, more in control, and more able to aggressively negotiate your settlement amount or even take your case to trial to get the maximum compensation you are entitled to.