When you have been hurt in a car accident involving a drunk driver, obtaining damages to cover your losses may be more challenging than in other types of motor vehicle accidents. Statistics show that many persons causing accidents while driving drunk are repeat offenders. As such, there's a distinct possibility that they may be driving without insurance. Here are some of the ways that you can pursue compensation for your losses.
GETTING COMPENSATION WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN INJURED BY A DRUNK DRIVER
What You Need to Know About Field Sobriety Tests
Field Sobriety Tests in New Jersey
When you have been pulled over by law enforcement officers, and they suspect that your blood alcohol level exceeds that allowed by law, a common method for identifying signs of intoxication is the field sobriety test. The field sobriety test can take a variety of forms, from walking a straight line to counting backward from a certain number.
LIABILITIES IN INTOXICATION ACCIDENTS
Drunk and impaired drivers can be held liable for any injuries and deaths they cause. In cases where a bar, restaurant, liquor store or party host serves alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person, who later causes an injury or fatal accident, that person or establishment can also be held liable under New Jersey's dram shop law. Here, it's important to thoroughly reconstruct the events that happened prior to a drunk driving accident in order to establish a timeline of when a drunk driver started drinking, how much he or she likely had, and the time frame involved. Reviewing bar tabs, credit card purchases, security camera footage (if available) and eyewitness testimony can shed considerable light on whether or not a drunk driver was visibly intoxicated when he or she was served alcohol.
Lincoln U Student Gets 5 - 10 in Fatal DUI Crash
Phillip Tomsic, A former Lincoln University student, has been given a sentence that is beyond minimum sentencing guidelines. Tomsic will serve five to 10 years behind bars for a November 2011 crash near the southeastern Pennsylvania campus that killed one friend and seriously injured another. The Chester County judge went beyond the minimum sentencing guidelines on Thursday for 23-year-old Tomsic as a warning to young people who drink and drive. Tomsic was convicted in August of charges including vehicular homicide and aggravated assault while driving under the influence, involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. Prosecutors said Tomsic hit a tree at more than 85 miles an hour. His friend Anthony Washington was killed instantly and friend Kadeem Fulmore lost his right foot and his left leg and suffered brain injury and severe burns. Fulmore is still hospitalized.
