Glasgow Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

Common Injuries in Drunk Driving Accidents

Drunk driving accidents cause severe, life-altering injuries to innocent crash victims, including in the Glasgow, KY area. Virtually any physical trauma you can imagine may follow a drunk driving crash. Some of the injuries our clients have needlessly, tragically suffered in drunk driving accidents include

• Traumatic brain injuries: Vehicle occupants in drunk driving crashes frequently sustain violent blows or jolts to their heads, which in turn can cause severe damage to brain tissue from tearing, swelling, or bleeding. A traumatic brain injury can inflict lifelong impairments and disabilities, including cognitive, motor, and emotional deficits. In the most severe cases, these injuries can cause death, coma, or permanent semi-consciousness.
• Internal injuries: The force of a collision with a drunk driver can also inflict damage to vital organs in the body, such as the lungs, heart, liver, and kidneys. Some of these injuries can prove fatal, particularly if not discovered soon after the accident. Even when doctors treat these injuries, victims can face a lifetime of health complications.
• Back and spine injuries: Drunk driving accidents frequently inflict damage to victims’ spinal columns and spinal cords. Damage to the spinal column can lead to long-term disability and chronic pain. Damage to the spinal cord often causes temporary or permanent paralysis.
• Crushed limbs and traumatic amputations: Drunk driving crashes often collapse vehicle passenger cabins, pinning, crushing, or severing occupants’ limbs. These injuries can cause victims to lose the function of their limbs or lose the limbs entirely to amputation. In either event, victims face a lifetime of disability and chronic pain.

This merely reflects a sampling of the types of injuries a Glasgow drunk driving accident can cause, of course. Human bodies are fragile, and the violence of a collision can do virtually any kind of harm imaginable.

No matter how a Glasgow-area drunk driver’s actions injured one of our clients, the team at Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers have the resources and know-how to seek appropriate, meaningful compensation.

Legal Liability for Glasgow Drunk Driving Accidents

Injured victims of Glasgow drunk driving accidents come to Flora Templeton Stuart knowing that someone owes them money damages, but not always understanding who that “someone” is. Of course, every drunk driving accident has its own unique circumstances, so the answer we give each client can differ.

Generally, anyone whose careless, reckless, or intentionally harmful actions leads to an accident can face legal liability for it. In drunk driving accident cases, our team often focuses on several parties who may owe money damages to our injured client:

The Drunk Driver

The drunk driver usually has legal liability for an accident that injures someone. That is no surprise since the drunk driver, by definition, causes a “drunk driving” accident.

In the typical case, the drunk driver’s auto liability insurance covers some of the harm the accident caused. If the drunk driver has substantial personal assets, then they may have to pay damages out of their own pocket, too.

However, the reality in many cases is that drunk drivers lack the financial resources to pay our clients all the money they deserve as compensation for their devastating injuries. Although necessary, a criminal prosecution of the drunk driver can compound that problem.

So, experienced lawyers know to look for other parties who may have legal liability for a Glasgow-area drunk driving accident.

A Bar, Restaurant, or Other “Licensed” Alcohol-Seller

Under Kentucky’s so-called “dram shop law,” a person “licensed” to serve alcohol can face legal liability to someone injured in a drunk driving accident. It can happen when the licensed vendor serves alcohol to a person who then causes a drunk driving accident, and:

• The drunk driver is under 21; or
• The drunk driver is over 21 and is already visibly intoxicated when the alcohol is served; or
• The vendor forces the drunk driver to consume alcohol or serves the drunk driver a drink that contains alcohol, but lies and says the drink is alcohol-free.

Kentucky law says that the drunk driver is still “primarily” liable for damages in a drunk driving accident, but that nevertheless, the licensed server can also face liability for harm the driver causes in an accident.

Experienced lawyers for Glasgow drunk driving accident victims know to look carefully at the facts of a crash to determine whether a licensed establishment served the driver alcohol. If so, then the victim may have a significant additional source to tap for compensation for devastating, life-altering injuries.

A Social Host, Maybe

Kentucky law may also allow a drunk driving accident victim to seek compensation from a so-called “social host” who served the drunk driver alcohol before a crash. A “social host” is a private individual, such as someone who serves guests alcohol at a dinner party.

Although the law remains uncertain, it is possible that when a social host has a “special relationship” with the person who consumes alcohol – such as when the person is a minor – then that host may face liability for harm caused in a drunk driving accident. Speak with a member of our team to learn more about this additional potential source of payment of damages for your injuries.

Someone Else

Just because an accident involves a drunk driver does not always mean the driver’s drunkenness constituted the sole cause of the crash. Experienced lawyers like the team at Flora Templeton Stuart Accident Injury Lawyers know always to look for other signs that factors having nothing to do with driver intoxication may also have contributed to the accident; for instance, signs of mechanical failure caused by a defective car part, or of a dangerous road condition caused by the negligence of a local government road department.

By identifying every individual or entity with potential liability for a client’s injuries, Flora Templeton Stuart aims to give her client the best possible chance of obtaining maximum compensation. Speak with her team today to learn more.

Money Damages for Glasgow Drunk Driving Accidents

Knowing who might owe damages to a Glasgow drunk driving accident victim leads to the next important question: how much? Every tragic, senseless drunk driving crash we handle has its own circumstances, of course, so we can never guarantee how much money, if any, an injured client will recover. However, as a general matter, we often represent victims of drunk drivers in Kentucky in taking legal action to seek compensation for the following categories of damages:

• Medical expenses. Drunk driving accident victims deserve compensation for past, present, and future medical costs associated with their injuries. These include the costs of just about anything medical-related; not just doctor and hospital bills, but also the costs of emergency medical transport from the scene of the crash, specialized medical equipment, and even physical and psychological therapies. Our team works with clients to pinpoint the full scope of actual and potential medical costs, to make sure they never have to worry about paying for care they need for injuries they never should have had to endure in the first place.
• Lost wages or earning potential. Drunk driving accident injuries keep crash victims out of work for weeks or more while they recover. Oftentimes, our clients cannot return to their jobs in their former capacity, but instead need modified schedules or work conditions. Some of our clients suffer crash injuries that prevent them from working ever again. No matter the scope of the impact of a drunk driving accident injury on our client’s ability to work, we believe our client should never lose a dollar of income because of a drunk driver’s reckless actions.
• Pain, suffering, and diminished quality of life. Direct financial costs reflect only some of the harm a Glasgow drunk driving accident can inflict. Clients of our firm also endure agonizing physical pain and emotional turmoil. Injuries take a heavy toll on their ability to enjoy life, to engage in day-to-day activities, and to maintain meaningful personal relationships. Just because these harms do not come with a “price tag” attached does not mean they are any less real to our clients. Our compassionate team works with clients to understand the full impact of drunk driving accident injuries on their lives, then doubles our efforts to hold anyone responsible for the accident accountable.

Punitive Damages in Drunk Driving Accidents

Although compensation most often comes in the form of compensatory damages, they aren’t the only way for drunk drivers to be held accountable for their actions.

While financial compensation helps the victims of a drunk driving accident, they do not necessarily deter drunk drivers from engaging in this type of behavior in the future. When a driver’s behavior is found to be especially harmful, as is the case for many drunk drivers, punitive damages may be available to punish them for their conduct.

The goal of punitive damages is to make an example out of the guilty party and discourage others from engaging in similar negligent behavior. While punitive damages are available for the purpose of punishing the defendant, victims will still receive a monetary award. In Kentucky, there is no limit to the amount of punitive damages that can be awarded to victims, making punitive damages an important piece of a Glasgow drunk driving accident settlement.

How Our Team Can Help

As lawyers for injured accident victims, we wish we could turn back time and heal our clients’ profound trauma. We have seen firsthand the devastation and disruption caused in our clients’ lives by injuries suffered in a senseless drunk driving accident. However, we know our limitations, so we leave our clients’ physical and emotional well-being principally in the hands of healing professionals.

Our primary goal in representing injured Glasgow drunk driving accident victims is to obtain the financial compensation they need to pay for care and to restore their quality of life as much as possible. Money cannot solve all problems, but it can supply a solid foundation for our clients’ recovery and renewal.

As we have written multiple times above, every client’s case is unique, and our team treats it that way. Every individual who walks through our doors has a singular life story, and we view it as our job to understand that story, and then to do our utmost to serve our clients’ interests. In a drunk driving accident matter, that may include:

• Investigating the details of a drunk driving accident and the harm it did to our client, to wrap our minds and hearts around our clients’ experience and how we can best serve them. Oftentimes, our efforts also focus on making sure we identify every person or corporate entity that may have legal liability to our client for damages, and that we evaluate which of those have the financial resources (either through insurance or assets) to pay. We also pay special attention to assessing the full scope of a client’s injuries and losses, to make sure that when the time comes for us to “demand” payment from those at fault and their insurers, we ask for an amount that will meet our clients’ immediate and long-term needs.
• Negotiating with insurance companies and defense lawyers to achieve a fair settlement of our clients’ claims, if possible. Most cases we handle as personal injury lawyers achieve a settlement before reaching a trial, but not all. Having prepared our clients’ cases with diligence and compassion, we know when to recommend settlement to a client, and when to recommend that we stand and fight.
• Litigating in Kentucky courts, in front of judges and juries, to achieve a successful outcome for our injured clients when a settlement is not in the cards. Flora Templeton Stuart has a storied reputation as a top trial lawyer, which serves her clients well in the courtroom, and outside of it.
• Navigating the law-related aspects of the aftermath of a drunk driving accident. Sometimes, for example, the authorities will ask our client to give testimony as a witness in the prosecution of a drunk driver. We help our clients decide whether and how to participate in that kind of legal proceeding, and work to protect their legal, physical, and emotional wellbeing throughout.

Glasgow Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers for You

A Glasgow drunk driving accident can throw your life into turmoil. Having an experienced, compassionate, resourceful attorney on your side can help you reclaim it by seeking the compensation you need and deserve. Contact Flora Templeton Stuart today online or at 888-782-9090 for a free case consultation.