About 1,000 people lose their lives each year on Texas roads because of drunk drivers. Countless more suffer devastating injuries and emotional trauma. These car crashes also cause financial devastation to helpless victims who are caught in the wake of drunk drivers.
How does alcohol impair safe driving?
Alcohol is a depressant. That means it makes the brain and central nervous system less able to function normally. Alcohol makes it harder for a driver to make decisions and react to changing events on the roads.
The legal limit doesn’t necessarily tell the entire story. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that alcohol can affect a person’s ability to drive long before their bodily alcohol content reaches a .08. In fact, with a bodily alcohol content as low as a .02, a person may have a reduced ability to track movement and exercise sound judgment. The higher a person’s bodily alcohol content, the more likely they are to lack the ability to stay in their lane, properly apply brakes and appropriately pay attention to their driving.
Responsibility for a crash
Despite these known risks, drunk drivers take to the roads each day. When they drive drunk, they act negligently and even recklessly. That means, they don’t exercise enough care and caution in order to prevent harm to those around them. When you’re hurt in a car accident as a result, you have a right to recover for your losses.
Causation
The court looks at the case in order to determine what’s called causation. That is, they look to determine whether the act of drunk driving is what caused your injury. If a person drives drunk, they can face criminal charges even if no one gets hurt. However, their drunk driving must result in your injuries or damages in order for you to have a civil case against the drunk driver.
In some cases, the drunk driver’s fault is very clear. For example, you’re stopped at a four-way stop sign. You have the right of way, so you proceed into the intersection. Suddenly a car traveling on the other road blows through the intersection and hits you horizontally.
Police respond to the scene and determine that the other driver has an alcohol level of a .12. In this case, the other driver’s fault is very clear. They drove drunk, committed a driving error, and caused you injuries. You have a strong case against the driver to recover for all of your injuries.
In other cases, the answer might not be so obvious. For example, a drunk driver is stopped at a stop sign. Another driver rear ends the drunk driver. In that case, even though the driver is drunk, their drunk driving didn’t cause the crash. There might not be causation or negligence in this case on the part of the drunk driver even though they were breaking a law.
Work with us
If you’ve been hurt in a crash, our team of experienced attorneys can help you determine if a drunk driver is to blame. We can learn about your case, explain Texas law and help you understand your options for a fair recovery. You can learn about the legal process and what kinds of things to expect as your case moves through the courts. We’re happy to answer your questions so that you can feel confident in your decisions as you work to rebuild your life.
Call our law offices today at any of our convenient locations and get a free consultation.
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