As a car accident attorney, I have seen many cases where people were hit and injured by drunken and drug abusing drivers. If you are injured by such a driver you may be able to claim extra money, called punitive damages, against such a driver.
According to the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs*, in 2010, the number of alcohol-involved deaths in California decreased by 15.1%. Nevertheless, almost 2,000 people were still killed in traffic accidents caused by drug or alcohol use, while another 24 thousand people were injured in alcohol-related traffic accidents.
Money for other driver’s negligence in driving
Some of the money you can obtain from the insurance company of a substance abusing driver, for the driver’s negligent acts of driving, may be money for:
- Car repairs or total loss of your vehicle
- Medical bills
- Lost Wages or income.
- Emotional distress
- Pain and suffering
Punitive damages
Since a substance abusing driver voluntarily choose to consume the substance, that is considered an intentional harmful act. When intentional harmful acts are found, the at fault driver may have to personally pay you many times the total of what you receive for the above bills and damages from the insurance company. The law allows this to persuade that person to not do this again. You may thus be able to add significant amounts of additional money to your claim if the other driver was found to have been driving impaired.
Whether your injury results in temporary or permanent injury, the best strategy if you are involved in an alcohol or drug related car accident is to call an experienced car accident attorney. That attorney can usually obtain money for your car damage, medical bills, lost wages or income and pain and suffering, as well as possibly obtaining multiples of those amounts in the form of punitive damages.
At the Law Offices of John P. Burns, we effectively handle your car accident claim so you can focus on recovering emotionally and physically without dealing with the details. It’s free to ask questions, so contact us directly at 949-496-7000, or email us at john@johnburnslaw.com. We’ll be sure to get back to you within 24 hours.
*On July 1, 2013, the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs were eliminated, and all its programs moved to the Department of Health Care Services.