Is a Drunk Driver Automatically Liable for an Accident?

Georgia laws have strict penalties for driving while intoxicated, and personal injury lawyers have recovered large compensation awards for victims of car and truck accidents caused by drunk drivers. These cases sometimes involve huge punitive damage awards.

All of these factors lead many people to believe that if they are in an accident involving a drunk driver, the laws automatically hold the impaired driver liable for everything that happens. These people also believe that means they don’t need a lawyer and don’t need to worry about collecting evidence or any of the other critical tasks necessary after a car accident.

While drunk drivers often are held liable for injuries in car accident cases, they are not automatically responsible, and others involved may need to prove that they were not at fault. That makes it important to have assistance from an experienced attorney right from the start. Here’s why.

Breaking a Driving Law is a Separate Issue from Civil Liability

When someone breaks the law, they can be subject to penalties imposed by government officials, such as incarceration or imposition of a fine. They have committed wrongdoing and often suffer punishment as a result.

But the legal system that determines whether someone has broken the law, such as driving while impaired by alcohol or drugs or driving in excess of the speed limit, is separate from the legal system that determines whether an individual or company needs to pay damages for losses they caused to another individual or company. The processes are different.

When a criminal court has found someone guilty of breaking the law by driving while intoxicated, that gives you evidence you can use in your separate court case where you sue that individual for the harm they caused you. But that evidence may be only one piece of a very complicated puzzle.

Liability for Car Accidents Hinges on Causation

To prove that someone should bear legal responsibility for the injuries and property damage you suffered from a car accident, you generally need to prove that their negligence was the cause of the accident. In a situation where someone was driving while intoxicated, their conduct is not only irresponsible and negligent but downright reckless.

However, it is still necessary to show that it was the reckless driving that caused the accident and not something else. This requires the meticulous collection and preservation of evidence. Often, attorneys find it necessary to work with an accident reconstruction expert who can piece together information from damage to vehicles, skid marks, and other physical evidence to show what happened before and during the accident. Attorneys will also issue a subpoena to get copies of video images from traffic cameras and security cameras and question witnesses to get solid evidence to support an accident victim’s claim for compensation.

The bottom line is proving wrongdoing is not enough. You must conclusively demonstrate that the wrongdoing was the primary reason the accident occurred.

Insurance Companies Will Try to Prove Others Were at Fault

When a driver has insurance, the insurance would be expected to pay for the losses resulting from an accident where the insured driver is found to be at fault. Insurance companies do not like to pay out claims if they can possibly avoid it, so they will send in an experienced legal team prepared to argue why their client’s actions—although illegal—were not the cause of the accident. The most effective way to deny liability is to deflect it onto someone else. So, they are likely to try to show that your own actions were the primary cause of the accident, even if you were the one most seriously injured.

If you are not prepared with your own evidence and skilled legal team, you could find yourself facing legal liability for the accident. So you need a knowledgeable attorney not only to help you recover what you deserve as damages but also to ensure that you are not wrongfully found to be at fault, which could make it extremely difficult for you to obtain car insurance in the future and potentially result in you being required to pay for damage to the other driver’s vehicle.

Georgia’s Comparative Fault Rule

A combination of factors causes many accidents, and there may be more than one person at fault for the accident. When the attorneys present evidence showing that the actions of more than one person are to blame for triggering the accident, the court assigns a percentage of fault to each person.

Under Georgia’s comparative fault rule, if the injured person who is seeking compensation in a car accident case is found to be 50% or more responsible—if they bear at least half the blame—then they cannot recover compensation from the others responsible. If they bear a smaller share of fault, then the amount of compensation they can receive is reduced by their share of responsibility.

For example, in a drunk driving case, the court might find that the drunk driver was 90% responsible for causing the collision. In that situation, the person injured by the drunk driver would receive 90% of the damages assessed, with a 10% deduction for the victim’s share of responsibility.

On the other hand, if the attorneys representing the drunk driver are able to convince the court that that injured driver did something that was 55% of the reason for the crash while the drunk driver was only 45% responsible, then the drunk driver’s insurance would not have to pay anything, and the victim would get nothing.

Even when a driver is drunk and they do something that causes an accident with injuries, the injured person still might not recover unless their attorney can make the right arguments.

Michael M. Day Protects Victims Injured by Drunk and Irresponsible Drivers

Insurance companies will use every trick in the book to avoid paying claims, and even when representing a drunk driver, they will try to present persuasive arguments to show why that driver should not be held liable for the accident. We don’t think that’s fair, so we work to ensure that accident victims have equally zealous legal representation fighting for their interests. 

At Michael M. Day Law Firm, LLC, we know how to counter the tactics of insurance companies to ensure that accident victims receive fair compensation for their losses. In a situation involving a drunk driver, we may be able to seek punitive damages as well. Call us at 404-480-4284 or contact us online for a free case evaluation and consultation to learn what we can do for you.