When it comes to car accident personal injury claims, it can sometimes be very difficult to get the compensation you deserve because there is simply not enough evidence to determine who was truly at fault in the accident. This is generally the hardest part about making a successful claim because even eyewitness testimony can sometimes be unreliable, and reconstructing accidents is a difficult and complex process. However, there are some instances in which no investigations or reconstructions are required, and fault can be easily determined based on certain factors.
Perhaps the single most reliable way of determining fault in some accidents is determining whether or not one individual was drunk. If it can be proven that one driver was drunk, the rest of the facts about a case are almost irrelevant, as it is fairly safe to assume that had the intoxicated individual been sober, the accident could easily have been avoided. This usually means that if the other driver in your accident is accused of DWI, then you should have a relatively easy time recovering compensation.
New York residents may recall a fatal accident that occurred in Port Chester back in 2014. A man was caught on camera consuming copious amounts of alcohol in the hours leading up to the accident, and his BAC was later determined to be more than 0.20. Recently that man was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison, following a guilty plea to all 16 of the charges levied against him, including various DWI charges.
While little was mentioned in the report about the victim’s surviving family members, it is safe to assume that if they wished to recover compensation, they would not have a hard time proving that the convicted driver was at fault. Likewise, if you have been involved in a car accident or have lost a loved one to a car accident, and another driver is convicted of drunk driving, you may want to meet with an attorney to learn about how you might be able to recover compensation.
Source: Port Chester Patch, “Firefighter Sentenced in Fatal Wrong-Way Car Crash,” Alfred Branch, Sept. 27, 2015