Drunk Driving Victims
Common Injuries Resulting From a Drunk Driving Accident
Drunk driving accident injuries vary widely in severity and type. However, they often result in significant pain and suffering, and frequently leave victims with permanent disabilities. The most common of these injuries include:
- Spinal cord injuries, often resulting in a loss of function, paralysis, and long-term health complications that shorten a victim’s lifespan.
- Traumatic brain injuries, which can leave victims with lasting motor, cognitive, and emotional impairments that affect quality of life and ability to work.
- Major orthopedic injuries, including broken bones, back injuries, and crushed limbs, which can leave victims with permanent disabilities and in chronic pain.
This merely represents a sampling of the injuries that a drunk driving accident can cause, of course. No matter what kind of injury you sustained in a crash caused by a drunk driver, consulting with an experienced attorney from Benson & Bingham Accident Injury Lawyers can help you obtain the compensation you deserve.
Who Can You Sue for Drunk Driving Accident Injuries?
Most drunk driving victims assume that they have the right to sue a drunk driver (or the driver’s insurance company) for their injuries. Usually, that is true.
However, experienced drunk driving accident lawyers know that other individuals and entities may share legal liability for a crash that leaves innocent victims injured or worse.
For example:
- Employers of drunk drivers who cause a crash while driving in the course of their jobs may have a legal liability, because employers generally must answer for their employees’ actions, and because employers have an obligation not to allow employees who would drive drunk to operate commercial vehicles.
- Bars and restaurants that served alcohol to a minor who subsequently caused injuries in a drunk driving accident.
- Other parties whose actions or decisions may have contributed to causing the accident, even if not directly related to the driver’s intoxication.
Every drunk driving accident matter has its own unique facts. Experienced lawyers know to dig into those facts to identify all parties with potential legal liability, rather than looking only to the drunk driver for compensation.
What Compensation You May Collect
Victims of drunk drivers generally have the right to seek compensatory damages for their injuries and losses.
These damages often include compensation for:
- Lost wages, including tips and bonuses.
- Loss of future earnings.
- Pain and suffering costs.
- Medical bills, which can include hospital stay, rehab services, counseling services, and home care health services.
- Vehicle repair or replacement costs.
- Funeral expenses.
- Loss of financial support.
Every case is different, and no one can guarantee that all (or any) of the categories of damages above will apply to a particular drunk driving accident injury case. Speaking with an experienced attorney is the most reliable way to evaluate what damages you might hope to recover after sustaining injuries in a drunk driving crash.
Factors Considered When Calculating Damages
There is no one-size-fits-all calculation for determining how much compensation a drunk driving accident victim will recover in an accident.
Instead, numerous, varying factors play a role in that calculation, such as:
- The severity of a victim’s injuries and losses.
- The diagnosis and the type of treatment recommended for the injuries.
- Whether the victim sought medical attention promptly after the accident.
- Whether any parties dispute liability for the accident.
- The availability of insurance or other assets to pay damages.
Contact an experienced drunk driving accident injury attorney to begin evaluating the amount of damages you might hope to recover.
How an Experienced Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Can Help
Victims of drunk driving accidents often find themselves in a confusing and frightening situation. Injuries have incapacitated them, require significant medical treatment, and keep them out of work or school. Expenses mount. Life can feel truly overwhelming.
Hiring an experienced drunk driving accident attorney cannot solve all of those problems, certainly not right away. However, an attorney can get to work seeking to obtain the compensation victims deserve and which may help them stabilize their health and lives.
Every drunk driving accident is different, but generally, experienced drunk driving accident injury lawyers serve their clients’ interests by:
- Investigating drunk driving accidents to figure out what happened, whose actions and decisions were to blame, and how much money a client should receive as compensation for injuries.
- Managing the legal issues that can arise when taking legal action for damages against a drunk driver at the same time as prosecutors take criminal action against that same driver.
- Negotiating with defense attorneys and insurance representatives to achieve a fair and
reasonable settlement of a client’s claims for damages.
- Litigating in courts, including going to trial if necessary, to force legally-liable parties to pay damages.
Victims of drunk driving accidents usually benefit from speaking with an experienced attorney as soon as possible after getting injured in a crash. The sooner an attorney can start working to protect a client’s legal rights, the better the chances of the client recovering every dollar of compensation allowed under the law. Conversely, if a victim waits too long to hire an experienced lawyer, time may run out for taking legal action and the victim may end up empty-handed.
Do not gamble with your valuable and important legal rights. If a drunk driving accident has left you or a loved one badly injured, contact an experienced drunk driving accident injury attorney today for a free, confidential, no-obligation case evaluation.
Benson & Bingham
626 S 10th St
Las Vegas, NV 89101
702-382-9797
