Hit by a Drunk Driver? A New Orleans DUI Accident Attorney Can Help You Recover Damages
Drunk driving is one of the most dangerous things that a motorist can do. If someone drives while impaired by drugs or alcohol, that motorist increases the risk of a collision occurring – and the accident may be especially likely to be serious since many DUI accidents occur at high speeds or are head-on crashes. If you or someone you love is hurt by a driver who is impaired, you need to speak with a New Orleans DUI accident attorney about your options. Bloom Legal can provide compassionate and knowledgeable legal representation to help you fight for the compensation you deserve. Contact us today to learn how we can assist you with your car accident claim.
Your Rights After a Drunk Driving Accident
All accident victims have the right to be fully and fairly compensated for crash losses. While collision victims generally need to prove that another driver was unreasonably careless in causing a crash, drunk drivers have violated clear safety regulations. Their intoxication creates the presumption that they were to blame for the crash occurring.
This doesn’t always mean it’s easy to recover the damages you deserve after a drunk driving accident. You’ll still need to pursue a claim with the intoxicated driver’s insurer or go to court to fight for your right to fair compensation. To obtain damages, you must prove the motorist’s intoxication was the cause of your crash.
At Bloom Legal, we will help you gather the evidence you need to recover monetary damages if a drunk driver has hurt you or caused the wrongful death of someone you love. We deal with insurance companies on your behalf and fight hard to help you get reimbursed for both economic and non-financial losses, including pain and suffering you endure, lost wages, missed work, and more.
Common Drunk Driving Accident Injuries
DUI accidents often cause a wide range of injuries, from seemingly minor bumps and bruises to serious and even fatal head, neck and back damage. At Bloom Legal, we commonly see these injuries in drunk driving crashes:
- Whiplash
- Scrapes and cuts
- Broken bones
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Head and neck injuries
- Traumatic brain injury
- Spinal cord injuries
- Paralysis
- Amputation
- Vision loss
- Severe burns
- Catastrophic injuries
Anyone who has sustained these and other injuries in a drunk driving accident has the right to seek compensation from those responsible, whether it is the driver or his or her employer. At Bloom Legal, an experienced New Orleans DUI accident attorney will help you ensure that those responsible are made fully liable.
New Orleans DUI Accident Attorney Explains Third-Party Liability for DUI Crashes
The intoxicated driver is often primarily responsible for the crash in drunk driving accidents. In some situations, however, the driver’s employer or another third party may also be on the hook.
Can Bars and Restaurants Be Held Liable for DUI Accidents?
Louisiana does not have a “dram shop” law that holds bars, restaurants and other drinking establishments responsible for drivers who become intoxicated at their establishments before getting behind the wheel and causing a crash. The state also does not extend that kind of liability to a person who throws a party or social event.
Louisiana law does, however, impose vicarious liability on employers in certain circumstances. It commonly comes into play in car accidents involving a company vehicle.
Employers are vicariously liable for accidents caused by employees acting within the scope of their jobs. If an employee is authorized to drive a company car and is involved in a crash while on the clock, his or her company is likely to be liable for the accident.
Take, for example, a cable repair person who is involved in a rear end crash while driving a company vehicle to a customer’s home for an appointment. Or, consider a pizza delivery person who runs a red light and collides with another vehicle while making a delivery. If the driver in either situation caused or contributed to the crash, the companies are likely to be liable.
A New Orleans DUI accident attorney at Bloom Legal can help you build the strongest possible case for money damages.
Compensation Your DUI Accident Attorney Will Pursue
A person injured in a car accident can seek compensatory money damages from those responsible. As the name suggests, this money is designed to compensate an injured person for the financial consequences of the crash. The available damages typically cover current and future medical bills, missed wages due to time away from work and any reduction in a person’s long-term earning capacity caused by the injuries. In some cases, additional punitive damages may be awarded to punish a drunk driver for, particularly careless behavior.
In the tragic situation in which a person is killed in a drunk driving accident, his or her loved ones can sue for wrongful death. A New Orleans DUI accident attorney can help you recover similar damages as would have been available to your loved one, had he or she survived the collision.
Contact an Experienced New Orleans DUI Accident Attorney to Obtain Compensation
A New Orleans DUI accident lawyer at Bloom Legal can help you negotiate an out-of-court settlement that provides you with fair compensation, so you can avoid the stress of a trial. In many cases, insurers are willing to pay out a settlement when the policyholder they provide coverage for was drunk, as they typically don’t want these types of cases to go to court. Our firm will bring our considerable negotiation skills to your case to ensure your settlement is as large as possible to provide you with the money you need to move forward.
If no settlement is reached, we are prepared and ready to go to court to protect your interests. You do not deserve to have your life shattered by an intoxicated driver and you need to obtain enough money to help you rebuild. Our firm has helped injured victims recover substantial sums of money through car accident cases arising from drunk driving accidents and we know how to show the court the extent of your damages to best maximize your compensation.
To find out more about how a DUI accident lawyer can help you fight for the money you need when a drunk driver hurts you, give us a call today at 504-599-9997 or contact us online.
Hear What Our Clients Have To Say
"I contacted Bloom Legal out of the blue with a strange question for a fiction series I’m writing that takes place in New Orleans. Being from Maryland I was in the dark and needed assistance and they jumped at the chance to help me (they were the only law firm that responded to my e-mail). His team worked quickly and carefully to find the information I needed. Because of the help they provided it changed a large aspect of my novel and for that I am very grateful."
Posted By: Sarah Perrie