Prince William County Drunk Driver Car Accident Lawyer
Car collisions can cause serious damage, especially if one of the drivers is drunk. Drunk drivers have slower reaction times and are more likely to get involved in accidents. A collision could lead to catastrophic injuries. If you have been injured in a drunk driving collision, consult a Prince William County drunk driver car accident lawyer. A capable car crash attorney could devote the time and resources necessary to achieve justice for you.
Differences Between Drunk Driving Crashes and Other Car Crashes
Car accident injury cases involving a drunk driver are different from other car accident cases because it is much easier to prove liability on the tortfeasor. In other cases, it might be more difficult to prove liability. For example, if both sides are saying that the other driver changed lanes into their lane and each party is pointing fingers at the other person, then it is very difficult for a police officer or a judge, or a jury to determine who is properly at fault.
Where there is a case where a person is determined to have had too much alcohol to drink and/or is blowing over the legal limit, it is very easy to determine that that person is negligent while driving. If someone is violating the law, that is per se negligence, which means that it would be very easy to show—just based on the fact that they were breaking the law—that that person was acting negligently. Given that we know how alcohol affects a person’s driving ability, it would be pretty clear to a judge, jury, or police officer that the person who was drunk was at fault.
This would not be the case for all laws, however. For example, if someone is violating an arrest warrant and they get into an accident, that is probably not evidence that they were necessarily at fault for an accident. However, drunk driving, because of the obvious implication that it has on someone’s ability to drive, is per se evidence of negligence as a Prince William County drunk driver car accident lawyer might explain.
Fact Patterns Associated with Drunk Driving
A common fact pattern with drunk driving in Prince William County usually involves the time of day. Drunk driving accidents are much more common at night or in the very early mornings than they are in the middle of the day. Similarly, when people are drunk, there is also low visibility. It is usually dark outside and it might be more difficult for the victim of a car accident to see the drunk driver coming.
Police know this in particular, but drunk driving from certain establishments or certain areas of town where drinking is more prevalent might be a more a likely location where an accident is going to happen as compared to the rural areas of Prince William County. Woodbridge is a rather large city in Prince William County, so whatever area of Woodbridge has a lot of bars or clubs is probably also a hotbed for drunk driving and drunk driving accidents.
Why are Young People More Likely to Drive Drunk?
As a Prince William County drunk driver car accident lawyer could attest to, drunk driving usually involves young people. Obviously, young people are more likely to drink and drive than older people similarly because of the time of day. Victims of drunk drivers are usually young people as opposed to old people who often go to bed earlier. Also, older people do not go out as much and are less likely to be on the street when people are drunk, which is often anywhere between 9 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Are the Injury Case and the DUI Case Handled Separately?
The injury case and the DUI case are handled separately. The injury case is what someone is working on with their Prince William County drunk driver car accident lawyer in a civil lawsuit to recover money from the tortfeasor. The DUI case is a criminal matter that is handled by the prosecutors. The DUI case would be a criminal matter where the tortfeasor or the person who injured the injured person is not on trial to give up some sort of money but instead is on trial for punishment to either go to jail, pay a very large fine, or get their license suspended. The two cases are handled very differently. In the criminal case, it is only about punishing the wrongdoer. In the civil case, it is about correcting the injustice to the injured person. A capable personal injury attorney could work tirelessly to help an individual recover compensation from the tortfeasor.
