Thousands of people lose their lives to drunk driving every year, and even more are injured when there is in accident. Even with all the awareness campaigns over the years, people still engage in this incredibly reckless act. Drunk drivers will face criminal consequences, but those will not compensate you for your injuries. Instead, if you need to recover damages for your losses, you need to file a car accident claim, either with your own insurance company or the insurer of the at-fault party. A Fort Lauderdale DUI accident lawyer can advise you of your legal options and help you through the appropriate process.
Why DUI Accident Injury Victims Trust Rosen Injury Law
- We have helped many clients recover multimillion-dollar settlements and awards for their damages.
- We have the skills, experience, and resources to investigate all aspects of your accident to determine if additional parties may be liable for your DUI accident damages and to hold them accountable.
- We won’t rest until we recover maximum compensation for you.
- You pay nothing until we recover your compensation.
Why Fort Lauderdale DUI Accidents Can Be Catastrophic
When drivers are under the influence of alcohol or drugs, they no longer have the same ability to react and are at a much higher risk of causing an accident. They put themselves and everyone else on the road at grave risk.
Some driving tasks that are impacted by alcohol and drugs include:
- How fast they are driving.
- Their reaction times are longer.
- They have a much reduced attention span.
- Their coordination is impaired.
- They are unable to assess distance and risks adequately.
- They become more drowsy behind the wheel.
Drunk driving kills. Drunk driving accidents are more likely to occur at high speeds. They are also more likely to involve direct impacts, such as head-on collisions and T-bone crashes.
Injuries Suffered in Fort Lauderdale DUI Accidents
An estimated one in ten DUI accidents results in a fatality. Victims of DUI accidents could include other drivers, your passengers, and those in other vehicles, bicyclists, motorcyclists, and pedestrians.
When not fatal, some injuries suffered in Fort Lauderdale DUI accidents include:
- Brain injuries.
- Spinal cord injuries.
- Severed or severely mangled limbs that require amputation.
- Crushed and broken bones.
- Internal bleeding.
- Organ damage.
- Back and neck injuries.
- Burns.
- Scarring and disfigurement.
- Facial injuries.
- Post-traumatic stress disorder and other emotional injuries.
Damages You Can Recover For DUI Accident Injuries
Your damages will depend on the facts of your case. In a successful Fort Lauderdale DUI accident claim, you can recover economic, non-economic, and, possibly even, punitive damages.
Economic damages are more straightforward to prove and quantify than non-economic damages. They include your current and future medical expenses, current and future lost wages, property damage, necessary modifications to your home and vehicle due to your injuries, and other costs incurred due to your accident.
Non-economic damages are more challenging to prove and quantify, but can be just as devastating as economic damages. They include pain and suffering, mental and emotional distress, scarring and disfigurement, permanent disability, loss of enjoyment of life, loss of consortium, and other intangible losses.
Florida law only permits an award of punitive damages when a defendant is guilty of intentional misconduct or gross negligence. Punitive damages may be appropriate in DUI accident injury cases.
At Rosen Injury Law, we work hard to recover all types of damages available to our clients to recover maximum compensation.
Parties Who May Be Liable in a Fort Lauderdale DUI Accident
In some cases, third parties may be held liable for injuries caused by DUI accidents. In addition to the impaired driver, other potentially liable parties may include:
- A vendor who sold alcohol to someone under the legal age.
- A vendor who serves alcohol to someone they know is habitually addicted to alcohol.
- The owner of the vehicle is the impaired driver.
- An employer. An employer may be vicariously liable for damages if the impaired driver engaged in the course and scope of their employment when the accident happened.
Our attorneys are excellent investigators who work to uncover all contributing factors to your accident and to hold all potentially liable parties accountable.
Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Accident Lawyer Explains PIP Benefits
Florida is a no-fault auto insurance state, which means you must first file a claim with your own insurance company after a crash, regardless of who was to blame. All motorists in Florida are required to carry a minimum of $10,000 in personal injury protection (PIP) benefits. These benefits will cover your medical expenses and a portion of your lost income, but they will not provide certain damages, such as pain and suffering.
While PIP benefits are limited, they also allow you to receive compensation quite quickly. The insurance company does not have to investigate because fault is not a factor, so you can receive benefits soon after the crash. If you exhaust your PIP benefits but still need additional compensation for your injuries, you can then file a claim directly against the drunk driver.
Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Accident Lawyer Can Help You File a Claim
Drunk driving is a very serious illegal act in Florida. Once you have exhausted your PIP benefits, you can file a claim with the drunk driver’s insurance company. If you can prove the driver was drunk at the time of the crash, they are considered negligent per se in the civil case. This is because any time a driver breaks the law and an accident occurs, it is presumed that the motorist who broke the law was negligent. A conviction in a criminal case can help prove the driver was drunk at the time of the crash, which can help simplify your claim. Our accident lawyers in Fort Lauderdale are here for you every step of the way.
Our Fort Lauderdale DUI Accident Lawyer Explains Third-Party Liability
Some states have dram shop laws that allow accident victims to hold bars, restaurants, and even social hosts liable if they over-serve someone and that person later causes a drunk driving accident. Florida does not have such a law regarding third-party liability unless one of two scenarios applies. These are when the third party gave alcohol to someone under the age of 21 or to someone that was known as habitually addicted to alcohol.
Call Our DUI Accident Lawyer in Fort Lauderdale Today
If you have been injured in a crash, our Fort Lauderdale DUI accident lawyer at Rosen Injury Law, P.A. can help you make things right. Our personal injury lawyers in Fort Lauderdale know how to hold drunk drivers liable so you claim the full compensation you deserve. Call us today at 954-787-1500 or contact us online to schedule a free consultation and to learn more about how we can help.