Articles Tagged with drunk driving accident victims

A man in New Jersey is suing two bars he alleged served him alcohol in the hours before he was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle accident in which he was seriously injured. According to news reports, the 28-year-old plaintiff alleges he was downing Tequila at two local bars, and left both sites intoxicated. Around 3:20 a.m., upon leaving the second site, he reportedly crashed his motorcycle, suffering a severe leg injury. His blood-alcohol level was below the 0.08 threshold, but he claims he was still impaired (an instance our own Florida law recognizes as possible in F.S. 316.193). Further, he says his breath-alcohol test wasn’t given until several hours after the crash. His criminal charge was dismissed. drunk driving accident

There are of course many people who take the stance that drunk drivers deserve what they get. We won’t dispute that in some cases, but as drunk driving accident lawyers, we used this example to point out the viability of such a claim here in the Sunshine State. Based on the facts we know of this case, it would not succeed in Florida – and not because drunk drivers can’t sue for injuries. They can, but only in limited circumstances. The same in fact is true of drunk driving accident victims when it comes to third parties.

It all comes down to Florida’s dram shop law, found in F.S. 768.125. A dram shop law is the avenue through which drunk driving accident victims (including, in some cases, the driver) can seek damages from the bar, restaurant or vendor that served alcohol to the drunk driver.  Continue reading ›

Technically speaking, New Year’s Eve isn’t the worst when it comes to drunk driving. But after the clock strikes midnight – watch out. newyearseve

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that half of all deadly car accidents on New Year’s Day involve a motorist who was deemed drunk, which usually means having a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.08 or higher. The deadliest day of the year on our roads varies from year-to-year, but New Year’s Day is almost always in the top three. Research by the National Safety Council revealed that during the New Year’s holiday season in a recent five-year span, about 42 percent of traffic deaths were related to drunk driving. These figures include pedestrians who are struck by vehicles too. The fact that the holiday this year falls on a weekend could mean we’ll see even higher rates of personal injury and death on the roads.

For drunk driving accident victims, there may be several avenues of recovering compensation, depending on the circumstances.  Continue reading ›

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