Boca Raton Drunk Driver Injury Lawyer
A drunk driver crackdown began in the mid 1990s. All these years later, alcohol still causes about a third of the fatal vehicle collisions in Florida. Changing the law is relatively easy. Changing people’s habits is almost impossible. Regardless of legal changes, people keep driving drunk and keep putting other people at risk. As outlined below, these car wrecks usually cause serious injuries.
The diligent Boca Raton drunk driver injury lawyers at Smith, Ball & Báez do whatever it takes to obtain maximum compensation for these victims. Substantial compensation is available, but insurance companies don’t simply give it away. In fact, these lawyers do whatever they can to reduce or deny compensation to victims. A solid claim begins with a solid case. Then, attorneys must use all their advocacy and negotiating skills to obtain maximum compensation.
Alcohol-Related Car Crash Injuries
Depressants like alcohol impair motor skills and judgment ability. Therefore, drunk drivers take risky chances behind the wheel. They cannot do simple things like quickly react to a light that changes from green to yellow to red. Some common injuries in these collisions include:
- Spine Injuries: The spine is a long chain of sensitive nerves connected by delicate bones. The excessive, violent motion of a drunk driver wreck often knocks the spine out of alignment. This misalignment causes injuries ranging from chronic pain to permanent paralysis.
- Broken Bones: The same excessive, violent motion usually crushes bones, especially arm and leg bones. A simple break usually requires little more than a cast and rest. A shattered bone requires surgical reconstruction. As a result, physical therapists must work much longer and harder to help these victims regain lost function.
- Head Injuries: Whiplash is one of the most common car crash-related head injuries. Because it’s a soft tissue injury that X-rays and other diagnostic tests don’t detect, this injury is hard to diagnose. Without a prompt diagnosis, the injury gets progressively worse and often causes paralysis.
A Boca Raton drunk driver injury lawyer obtains the compensation these victims need to pay medical bills and move on with their lives.
Liability Issues
This compensation is available if the tortfeasor (negligent driver) was intoxicated or impaired when s/he caused the crash.
Most local law enforcement agencies have mandatory DUI arrest policies. Officers must arrest drunk drivers. These arrests have consequences in civil court as well. Tortfeasors in Florida are liable for damages as a matter of law if:
- They violate a penal safety law, and
- That violation substantially causes injury.
The negligence per se rule, which applies even if the tortfeasor beats the DUI in court, establishes legal responsibility for compensation. But minimal effort usually produces minimal results. A Boca Raton drunk driver injury lawyer must introduce additional evidence to obtain maximum compensation in these cases. Such evidence includes:
- Likely recent alcohol consumption (e.g. a recent visit to a bar or alcohol-serving restaurant),
- Erratic driving before the crash,
- Physical symptoms, like odor of alcohol or bloodshot eyes, and
- Tortfeasor’s statements about alcohol use.
This same evidence could also establish liability if the tortfeasor was dangerously impaired but not legally intoxicated. Alcohol impairment, which includes the aforementioned effects, begins with the first sip of alcohol.
Reach Out to a Hard-Working Palm Beach County Lawyer
Injury victims are entitled to significant compensation. For a free consultation with an experienced drunk driver injury lawyer in Boca Raton, contact Smith, Ball, Baez & Prather, Florida Injury Lawyers. Attorneys can connect victims with doctors, even if they have no insurance or money.
