Drunk drivers in Ohio face severe criminal penalties for operating a vehicle while intoxicated (OVI). When they cause crashes, their injury victims are often left with life-altering injuries that lead to unbearable financial and emotional strains. Insurance can help cover some of these losses but typically falls short of what victims truly need.
You don’t have to face your losses without financial help if you have been injured in a drunk driving crash. This is the responsibility of the negligent drunk driver who hit you.
At Slater & Zurz, we represent drunk driving injury victims, not drunk drivers. We can potentially help you fight for a compensation payout that will come far closer to addressing your needs than a basic insurance payout.
Understanding What Occurs After a Drunk Driving Accident
Chaotic is often an accurate description of the events immediately after a drunk driving injury accident. In the days and weeks that follow, you will likely face the difficulty of adjusting to your injuries and the havoc they have wreaked on your life.
If the accident is particularly serious, you may be in the hospital long-term and have to take significant time off work. Financial pressures mount quickly in these situations, which is why you need timely and comprehensive compensation. An attorney for drunk driving accidents can help.
Insurance Company Payouts
Insurance company payouts can help cover some of your losses, but not likely all. Various factors are usually at play in the compensation process that may work against you getting the amount you need, such as policy limits or an unreasonable insurance company.
In either case, hiring an attorney for drunk driving accidents to take control of your insurance negotiations is recommended to secure your rights to a decent payout.
Criminal Charges and Your Compensation
An OVI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated) resulting in injury is a serious crime with severe penalties. A conviction can send a driver to jail or prison and negatively impact their driving ability. A conviction also establishes a driver’s negligence, which is important to an injury victim’s attorney for drunk driving accidents.
Typically in personal injury cases, your lawyer in Akron must use evidence, such as police reports and traffic cameras, to prove that a defendant’s actions were negligent. In drunk driving cases, however, a conviction or a guilty plea is all of the evidence your drunk driving lawyer in Akron needs.
How Our Akron Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer Can Help
Our experience as tough representatives of drunk driving accident injury victims precedes us in every case we take. We have successfully recovered millions of dollars from people who put others’ lives at risk, and we have put these resources into the hands of our clients.
A drunk driving accident never ends well. The aftermath is often a journey through pain and tragedy for everyone involved. At Slater & Zurz, we help our clients through this tough time while vigorously pursuing the funds they need and deserve.
When you hire an Akron drunk driving accident lawyer from Slater & Zurz, you get an advocate who will:
- Handle your legal paperwork, such as claims, and court filing
- Fiercely negotiate with insurance companies and the defendant’s lawyer
- Gather evidence to support your case, including police and medical reports and records, video surveillance, witness videos and statements, and the other driver’s record
- Keep you updated on the progress of the case and make sure you understand what is transpiring and when
- File a lawsuit on your behalf if the insurance claims process does not yield satisfactory results
You need time to get your life back on track and be with loved ones after an accident. With a drunk driving accident attorney, you don’t have to take on the added pressure of not only recovering compensation but making sure that compensation is sufficient as well.
Call our drunk driving accident attorney at (330) 762-0700 to schedule a free consultation. You deserve to know the extent of your rights during the compensation process and how much your case may be worth.
Compensation Considerations in Drunk Driving Accident Cases
Drunk driving accidents often cause serious injuries and heavy damage. When recovering compensation for their losses, injury victims have the right to seek economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are those losses you incur that come with a price tag already attached. They may include:
- Medical bills for surgery, specialized care, or long-term treatment
- Medication expenses
- Property damage
- Income loss
Non-economic damages are not easily quantifiable but are just as impactful on a person’s financial and mental health as economic damages. They deal with quality of life and day-to-day living and include:
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish
- Loss of consortium
- Disfigurement
- Any other intangible loss
Your drunk driving accident lawyer will be instrumental in negotiating these figures.
Unlike economic damages, non-economic damages have a cap. Ohio law limits plaintiffs to $250,000 or three times the economic loss, up to $350,000 per injured victim. There is also an overall cap of $500,000 for damages related to a single incident of drunk driving that your drunk driving accident lawyer must follow.
Punitive damages are another type of damages reserved for the most egregious car accident cases. Also known as exemplary damages, they exist to punish a defendant for actions that demonstrate malice.
Although most car accident injury claims do not qualify for punitive damages, many drunk driving cases do. As with non-economic damages, there is a cap on punitive damages, which is two times the award for compensatory (economic and non-economic) damages awarded by the jury.
Wrongful Death
Sadly, drunk drivers in Akron and throughout Ohio are responsible for many road-related deaths. If your loved one has died in an OVI crash, then your damages will be similar to the ones for personal injury claims, with various others tacked on, such as:
- Funeral expenses
- Burial expenses
- End-of-life care
In Ohio, the deceased person’s representative brings a wrongful death lawsuit. The personal representative, normally a close family member or relative, is usually appointed in the deceased individual’s will. If there is no will, the court will appoint a representative — likely a family member.
Time Consideration with Drunk Driving Cases
With the law, time is always of the essence. Unfortunately, many valid claims for compensation against drunk drivers expire due to the passage of too much time.
Statute of Limitations
In Ohio, a statute of limitations controls compensation cases against drunk drivers. It requires your lawyer for drunk driving accidents to file your claim for compensation within a two-year time frame.
After this window closes, compensation claims are no longer valid. There are some limited exceptions to this statute of limitations. However, most drunk driving accident cases do not fit within their requirements.
If a drunk driver injured you or a loved one and two years have elapsed since the injury, consider speaking with a lawyer for drunk driving accidents to review your case. Through a free consultation, you can learn if your case is still valid and what options exist for moving forward.
Slater & Zurz Fights Hard for Drunk Driving Accident Victims
We believe in justice through the law. Every client we represent deserves the maximum compensation allowable. We fight to ensure each drunk driver we deal with pays for the harm they have inflicted on our clients.
Our clients appreciate the professionalism, courtesy, and discretion we show them when we take their cases. But what they appreciate most are the results we routinely provide.
If you want your drunk driving case handled by a seasoned and caring personal injury lawyer in Akron, call our office at (330) 762-0700. We can set up a free consultation to answer questions you have about proceeding with your case.
No. Slater & Zurz does not represent drivers charged with DUI/OVI. We are a plaintiff-based law firm. Our mission is to employ whatever resources are necessary to hold drunk drivers accountable by making them pay for the losses caused by their decision to get behind the wheel while drunk and drive through traffic.
Yes. You can sue a drunk driver for hitting you. However, you must have incurred damages that were caused by the drunk driver for your lawsuit to be valid.
If a driver crashes while drunk, they will likely be arrested and face serious criminal liability. Jail and prison are on the table for drunk drivers, as well as steep fines and substantial damage to their driving record. That is the criminal side of things.
Under civil legislation, a drunk driver who injures someone or damages property faces liability for their actions. They may be forced to pay significant compensation to the victims of their negligence.