According to the CDC, approximately 29 people die every day in car accidents involving a drunk driver. This means that one person dies every 50 minutes. Approximately 11, 000 died in 2016 due to alcohol-impaired driving accidents and more than one million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol.
If you’ve been injured in a car accident involving a drunk driver, you can get compensated for your injuries. A good Fall River auto accident lawyer can help you make a claim. However, it is important to understand that the at-fault insurance company will require you to prove your claim. the type of evidence you will need to provide for your case in this situation will not be the same as other types of personal injury claims.
In this article, we are going to discuss how to go about gathering evidence after being hit by a drunk driver in order to get compensated for your injuries.
How to Gather Evidence For an Injury Claim Against a Drunk Driver
The good news is that gathering evidence of drunk driving is not hard. The first thing you should acquire is a police report. Police reports usually have a section where an investigating officer notes down factors that could have contributed to the accident. The report will show the driver’s alcohol level if they were tested at the scene of the accident or at the hospital. If the driver was arrested for drunk driving, then this should be strong evidence for an injury claim. A conviction, however, is much stronger so you should follow up to confirm if the driver was arrested. A great place to check is with the District Attorney’s office where you can call and ask to talk with the prosecutor assigned to the case.
Apart from the police report, you can get evidence from:
Witness Statements
Did anyone see the driver driving recklessly? were they running the car off the road or swerving? Witness statements are very important because they will indicate whether the driver was drunk and generally what they saw leading up to the accident.
Videos and Photos
You can never have too many pictures or videos so make sure you take as many pictures and videos of the accident scene as possible. You can take videos of the occupants of the other car to prove if they were intoxicated.
How to Tell a Driver is Intoxicated
The first thing that you should do if you’ve been involved in a car accident is to call 911. If you believe the other driver is intoxicated, you should inform the dispatcher. Below are some of the things to look out for that might indicate the driver isn’t sober:
- They use a breath spray to hide the smell
- They use eye drops to hide evidence of the use of other drugs that might be hard to detect such as marijuana.
- They try to dispose of the drugs by tossing them out or by any other means
- They try to switch places with the passenger.
If you saw any of the above happen, make sure you tell the police when they arrive at the scene. This will prompt them to do administer a drug test.
How Drunk Driving Will Affect Your Claim
Adjusters always want to settle a claim as fast as possible for as little as possible. If you have all the evidence needed to prove that you were in an accident with a drunk driver, you should be able to settle your claim without the help of a Fall River auto accident attorney.
Keep in mind that insurance companies would rather settle your claim without going to court especially if your car accident was caused by a drunk driver. If you go to court and a verdict is in your favor, the insurance company may be ordered to pay a much higher amount.
When You Will Need to Hire a Fall River Auto Accident Lawyer
If you suffered minor injuries, you might not need to hire a Fall River auto accident lawyer. However, you stand to lose a lot in a complicated drunk driving case if you decide to pursue it on your own.
It costs nothing to find out what a good auto accident attorney at Kevin P. Landry Law Offices can do for you. Call us today at 508-676-0001 to schedule your free initial consultation.
