ST. PAUL PERSONAL INJURY LAW FIRM SWOR & GATTO
If you have been in an accident with a drunk driver, you have every right to be angry about it. If you were able to walk away with minor injuries and automobile damage, you are very lucky. Drunk drivers have claimed thousands of lives. However, no matter what damage they did to your car or your person, you still want to know who to sue to get coverage. Part of the answer is very obvious, but there is some other party responsible that you may not have considered.
SEEKING COMPENSATION FROM THE DRUNK DRIVER
After a drunk driving accident, most obviously you will want to seek compensation from the drunk driver. You will file a suit with their insurance and likely get compensation from them. The drunk driver themselves will also face criminal charges that will result in loss of license and potential jail time. However, as criminal cases often take longer to conclude, this will not likely play a role in your civil suit.
While seeking compensation from the drunk driver seems like a natural choice, you and your attorney may want to explore an additional avenue as well – where they got drunk. If the drunk driver got intoxicated in a bar or restaurant, you may be able to sue that business as well under Minnesota’s dram shop laws.
Dram shop laws mean that the establishment can be considered negligent if they sold liquor illegally to someone that later caused damage. “Illegal” sale of alcohol not only means sale to minors, but it can mean the sale of alcohol to someone who is obviously intoxicated. So if the drunk driver was behaving in any way intoxicated and was still sold more alcohol, the restaurant can also be sued as a co-defendant in this drunk driving case.
WHY GET THE DRINKING ESTABLISHMENT INVOLVED?
What often happens in drunk driving cases where you sue the drunk driver alone is that the insurance company will admit negligence. This essentially turns it into an average auto accident case. There is no need to bring the driver’s intoxication into it. This means that you will get your medical bills and damages covered, but you may get significantly less in compensation for items like pain and suffering.
However, if you bring a dram shop claim against the drinking establishment and include them as a co-defendant, it means that the driver’s intoxication can no longer be ignored. It will need to be established how drunk they were at the time of the accident to display if they were over served. Now the insurance company can’t just admit negligence and make intoxication a non-factor. Ultimately, this results in higher awards for having to endure this needless accident.
If the drunk driver did get intoxicated at a drinking establishment that sold alcohol, it strongly behooves you to seek a dram shop cases against them. Your lawyer will then interview employees and search for witnesses that saw their drinking that night. If someone does come forward and admits that they were exhibiting signs of drunkenness, it can go a long way towards the overall success of your case.
NEED HELP? CONTACT SWOR & GATTO TODAY
Have you been in an accident due to a drunk driver? Then you have been in an accident that never should have happened. Contact us today so the skilled professional at the Law Firm of Swor & Gatto can fight to get you compensation for not just your medical bills and damages, but compensation for having to endure the pain of being in a terrifying accident due to the negligence of another.