Drunk Driving & DUI Accident Lawyer in San Diego
Every year, thousands of people across the United States die from drunk driving accidents, and San Diego is no stranger to those accidents. Drunk drivers not only have a higher risk of causing a devastating accident in general, but they may also cause more serious injuries since drunk drivers may not have the control over their vehicles needed to mitigate the impact of an accident.
You might be dealing with severe injuries and long-term medical needs if you suffered injuries in a drunk driving accident. You may deserve compensation for those bills from the driver that caused your accident. Contact Rawlins Law to discuss your right to compensation with our San Diego drunk driving accident lawyers.
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San Diego Drunk Driving Accident Guide
- Compensation After a Drunk Driving Accident In San Diego: Breaking It Down
- Drunk Driving Accident Claims In San Diego: What You Need to Know
- Drunk Driving Accident FAQ
- Contact a Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Today
Rawlins Law Can Help With Your San Diego Drunk Driving Accident Claim
Drunk drivers cause more than $44 billion in damages each year. On average, twenty-nine people die every day due to drunk driving accidents. In San Diego alone, drunk drivers kill 40 people each year. Furthermore, drunk drivers may end up causing countless injuries that they could have prevented by simply choosing not to drive while intoxicated.
If you suffered injuries in a drunk driving accident, you need a lawyer that will fight to help you get the compensation you deserve for your injuries and to streamline the claim process so that you can feel confident about the outcome.
Our Results Speak For Us.
At Rawlins Law, we have helped our clients recover millions of dollars in damages due to injuries sustained in various accident types, including motor vehicle collisions.
Take a look at some of our case results:
- $900,000 in compensation for a car accident
- $750,000 in compensation for a rollover crash with disputed liability
- $50,000, the policy limit, for a car crash
We cannot guarantee the compensation you will recover for a drunk driving accident, but we can guarantee our dedication to getting you the compensation you deserve. Many claims settle for the policy’s limits that cover the liable driver. However, our team works relentlessly to help our clients following a devastating drunk driving accident.
Our Attorneys Offer Honest Legal Representation.
You may not know who to trust when you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident. You will often find yourself struggling to get real answers to your questions, from how much compensation you can expect for the damages you sustained during your accident to how long it will take to manage your injury claim. At Rawlins Law, we aim to provide honest legal representation that you can count on while seeking the results you deserve for your injury claim.
We Make It As Easy As Possible For You To Get The Legal Support You Need.
At Rawlins Law, we understand that you may face many barriers to the legal representation you need and deserve following your drunk driving accident.
We make it as easy as possible for you to get the legal representation and support you need:
- We offer virtual consultations if necessary, so you can easily connect with us.
- We start with a free case evaluation to help you better understand your rights after a drunk driving accident.
- We accept most clients on a contingent fee basis, meaning you only pay for legal fees with a percentage of the compensation you receive for your claim. You don’t get billed by the hour and won’t receive any bills while we work on your claim.
Did you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident? Contact us and let us get started on your drunk driving accident claim.
Compensation After a Drunk Driving Accident In San Diego: Breaking It Down
When you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident in San Diego, you may have a lot of expenses that you have to worry about and a lot of questions about what compensation you can reasonably recover for your injuries. In many cases, the insurance company that covers the drunk driver will try to make it difficult for you to get the full compensation you deserve.
At Rawlins Law, we cannot guarantee the compensation you will recover for your injuries. However, we can help you break down the losses you have sustained to better understand the compensation you deserve.
Compensation for Medical Costs
In most cases, you will receive compensation for the medical costs associated with your accident as part of your drunk driving accident claim. Talk to your lawyer about your medical bills and future anticipated medical expenses for your injuries.
You can include bills from emergency medical treatment at Scripps Mercy Hospital San Diego or Sharp Memorial Hospital and long-term costs from ongoing medical treatment. We can also obtain expert testimony from a medical professional to support the damages you will face to care for your injuries long-term.
Compensation for Wage Losses
Did you miss out on income because of the injuries you sustained in your drunk driving accident? If so, you may be entitled to compensation for those lost wages. Talk to your lawyer about the time you missed work because of your injuries and how it impacted your income, including times immediately after your accident and in the following weeks, like follow-up appointments or procedures.
Compensation for Your Suffering
Talk to your lawyer about the impact your accident has had on your life, including the suffering you may have faced because of the incident. Let your lawyer know what you have had to deal with, including your physical pain, challenges to your relationships, and any other losses that may have gone along with the accident. You may have the right to include compensation for that suffering as part of your injury claim.
Drunk Driving Accident Claims In San Diego: What You Need to Know
As many as 30 percent of traffic accidents occur due to drunk drivers. Drunk driving claims more than 11,000 lives each year across the United States, according to the NHTSA.
San Diego alone sees an estimated 350-400 drunk driving claims involving injury or fatality each year. The San Diego area also sees thousands of drunk driving accidents yearly, though not all of them result in serious injury or death.
Drunk drivers often struggle to safely control their vehicles and may engage in reckless behaviors that significantly increase the risk of a damaging accident. Unfortunately, other drivers may struggle to predict the behavior of a drunk driver, which may make it much more difficult for them to avoid those drivers and the potential for a collision.
If you suffer injuries in a drunk driving accident in San Diego, you will have two years after the accident to file a compensation claim under the statute of limitations. If you allow the statute of limitations to expire before you start moving forward with your claim, you may lose your ability to use the court system to pursue compensation and miss out on the compensation you would otherwise deserve for your injuries.
Dealing With The Drunk Driver’s Insurance Company May Prove Difficult.
You may assume that your San Diego drunk driving accident claim will progress relatively smoothly. You have identified the drunk driver’s dangerous actions and how they contributed to your accident.
A conviction of the drunk driver can establish liability. However, that does not mean that the insurance company will allow your claim to proceed smoothly. You may have to deal with a number of challenges that may make it more difficult for you to get compensation for your drunk driving accident injuries.
The insurance company may:
- Try to establish that you caused or contributed to the accident.
- Insist that you did not suffer the injuries you claim as a result of the accident but that you may have suffered them at another time or that you may not have those limitations at all.
- Pressure you to accept a low settlement offer that does not reflect the damages you sustained in your accident.
Dealing with the insurance company on your own can make it very difficult to navigate the claim process and come out with the compensation you deserve.
A Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Can Help Your Claim Proceed More Smoothly.
As soon after your drunk driving accident as possible, get in touch with a lawyer to discuss the damages you sustained, who bears liability for the accident, and how you can best pursue compensation for your injuries.
Your lawyer can help collect evidence related to the accident, establish the compensation you deserve, and fight for that compensation, whether you can reach an agreement out of court or have to go to court to fight for that much-deserved compensation. Many people find that working with a drunk driving accident lawyer increases the compensation they ultimately recover for their injuries.
Drunk Driving Accident FAQ
Does the drunk driver involved in an accident in San Diego always bear liability for the accident?
Drunk drivers often bear liability in an accident scene because of the dangerous behaviors those drivers may engage in on the road. However, that does not automatically mean drunk drivers will be liable for an accident. Other parties may also bear liability for an accident involving a drunk driver.
California law requires a look at all parties that may share liability for an accident and does not automatically place liability with a San Diego drunk driver.
For example, in some cases, the other driver involved in a drunk driving accident may bear liability, including cases in which a raging driver deliberately causes an accident with the drunk driver. If a mechanical failure contributes to the drunk driving accident, the manufacturer of the vehicle that suffered that mechanical failure may share liability for the incident.
Our lawyers can help you take a closer look at all the factors that may have led to your drunk driving accident and provide a better assessment of any liable parties.
Does the bar or restaurant that served the drunk driver bear liability for a drunk driving accident?
According to California law, a bar, restaurant, or social host that serves alcohol to an adult does not bear any liability for the decisions made by that adult, including the decision to get behind the wheel of a vehicle. California’s dram shop laws can prove more forgiving than other states, which may hold the bar or restaurant responsible for serving a known alcoholic or someone already under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
California law does, however, hold anyone who knowingly serves alcohol to a minor liable for those actions. If the minor gets into an auto accident, the person that served that minor may bear liability for the accident and the damages that go along with it
The driver that caused my accident did not get convicted of driving while intoxicated. Can I still file a claim?
You may file an accident claim any time the negligent actions of another driver cause you to suffer injuries in an accident. That includes cases of drunk driving and most of the behaviors related to driving while intoxicated, including reckless driving, swerving over the road, driving too slowly, or ignoring the rules of the road.
Keep in mind that several conditions, including blood sugar complications for diabetics and brain injury, can mimic the symptoms of intoxication. Also, the officer responding to an accident scene can determine whether to test the BAC of anyone involved in the crash, including the driver that caused the accident. If the officer does not carefully follow the chain of evidence or does not conduct a blood test, the driver that caused your accident may not end up with a drunk driving conviction on their record.
If the driver that caused your accident does not receive a drunk driving conviction, it does not change your right to file a claim. However, it does mean that you will not have that conviction as evidence to aid your injury claim. Furthermore, it does mean that you may not receive punitive damages, which courts generally award for extremely reckless or dangerous driving behavior like driving while intoxicated. Talk to your lawyer about how a drunk driving conviction, or lack thereof, can impact your accident claim.
Contact a Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Today
Dealing with the aftermath of a drunk driving accident in San Diego can leave you physically and financially devastated. At Rawlins Law, our San Diego personal injury attorneys aim to help our clients maximize the compensation they can recover for drunk driving accident injuries. Contact us at (858) 529-5872 for your free case evaluation.
