Macon Drunk Driver Accident Injury Lawyers 

Drunk Driver Crash Injury Lawyers Serving Macon, Georgia

Unique Obstacles After a Drunk Driver Crash

Drunk Drivers are more likely to be uninsured and/or flee the scene

Although the arrest and conviction of a drunk driver who causes a collision typically provides a strong case for liability, DUI injury accidents raise other issues. Motorists that commit DUI are more likely to have no insurance or to flee the scene of an accident. Because many DUI offenders often have already received a suspension of their driving privileges, a significant risk exists that drunk drivers involved in collisions will be uninsured. Such individuals normally have no way to satisfy a judgment or settlement.

However, an injured person due to such circumstances who has uninsured motorist coverage, or lives with a family member who does, can receive compensation even if the drunk driver has no auto insurance, including compensation for medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, and more. When an accident victim is hurt in a collision caused by an intoxicated motorist, our Macon drunk driver lawyers at Montlick consider all potential defendants, insurance coverage, and other sources of recovery.

Additional parties could also be held responsible

In addition to the intoxicated driver, other people or companies could also be held responsible and provide a source of financial recovery. Depending on the circumstances this could include a business that served a minor or “noticeably intoxicated” person (proving the requisite intent or knowledge can be difficult), the owner of a car who entrusts the vehicle to a person the owner should know is not a competent driver, drivers of other vehicles whose conduct played a substantial factor in causing the collision, employers of the driver if the person was acting in the scope of employment, manufacturers of defective vehicle components and automobiles and more.

Our Macon DUI accident attorneys at Montlick provide high-quality legal help to people who suffered injuries in accidents caused by others. We fight on behalf of each client to maximize the amount of financial recovery they receive so they can get the care they need and deserve free from financial anxiety.

Under the Influence

Drivers operated a vehicle while under the influence of drugs or alcohol more than a million times during the most recent year for which government data has been made available. Although many people focus exclusively on alcohol-impaired drivers, drugged driving plays a role in 16 percent of motor vehicle crashes. These drugs include illegal narcotics, prescription medications, and over-the-counter (OTC) medications.

Regardless of which intoxicating substance causes a motorist’s impairment, drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol can experience many diminished mental and physical abilities, such as:

• Distorted vision
• Slowed reflexes
• Impaired judgment
• Inflated impression of own driving ability
• Difficulty with concentration
• Increased risk of engaging in other unsafe driving practices (e.g. speeding)

When these essential driving skills are compromised, the decision to drive places all others on the road in serious jeopardy. Because of the well-established knowledge of the impact of alcohol and drugs on driving ability, a drunk driver causing an accident exhibits the type of egregious conduct that often merits punitive damages. Intoxicated drivers do more than make a mistake, constituting mere negligence. They decide to climb behind the wheel despite the significant risk of causing a traffic collision that results in serious injury.

The Scope of DUIs in Georgia

DUI continues to be the most common cause of fatal motor vehicle accidents in the United States. Drunk driving accounts for approximately a third of all traffic-related fatalities.

Drivers under the influence of drugs or alcohol cause the death of approximately 10,000 people annually and inflict injury on many more. Lawmakers and traffic safety experts have employed a multitude of strategies to curtail the drunk driving epidemic. While these efforts have generated progress, intoxicated drivers continue to inflict an enormous toll in the form of bodily injuries and wrongful deaths.

A glimpse at data involving alcohol and drug impaired driving reveals the scope of the problem:

• Motorists with a BAC of .08 percent (the legal limit for DUI in Georgia) are eleven times more likely to be involved in a fatal collision than a driver who has not consumed alcohol.
• Two out of three people in the U.S. will be in an accident involving a drunk driver at some point during their lifetime.
• Alcohol causes half of all teenage related driving fatalities.
• Drugs other than alcohol (methamphetamine, cocaine, marijuana, etc.) are involved in nearly one in five fatal motor vehicle accidents