You need to immediately report a drunk driving accident to your insurance company and file a claim with the drunk driver’s insurance policy to initiate the claims process. If you choose to bring a McAllen drunk driving accident claim against, Texas law requires you to file the lawsuit within the state’s two-year statute of limitations.

Texas courts are bound by the law, so they seldom hear cases from drunk driving accident victims who attempt to bring a lawsuit after the end of the two-year time limit. The law does allow for some rare exceptions. Your McAllen drunk driving accident attorney can evaluate your case and determine whether your case warrants an extension. The attorneys at Patino Law Firm are here to help.

You are financially responsible for your medical treatment costs regardless of why you landed in the emergency room or hospital. Depending on the type of health insurance you have, your policy should initially cover some of your medical expenses. Drunk driving accidents can cause severe injuries that lead to massive medical expenses, and in many cases, victims miss weeks or months of work. In the most severe cases, victims and their families face bankruptcy, foreclosure, vehicle repossession, and more when they cannot cope with the economic burden that comes from drunk driving accident injuries.

If you are overwhelmed with medical bills after a drunk driving accident, you potentially will get reimbursed for anything you have paid once your case is settled or litigated. If you receive compensation, your lawyer will pay any outstanding medical expenses before giving your cut to you. In the meantime, you should pay what you can and communicate your situation to your medical providers. They sometimes put accounts on hold or set up patients on a payment plan when they know an insurance claim or lawsuit is in the works.

If you ignore your medical bills without speaking with your providers, they will likely send you to collections. This will negatively impact your credit and add more emotional distress in the wake of a drunk driving accident.

Under Texas law, you have the right to seek compensation in civil court for damages from the drunk driver who harmed you. If you settle with the driver’s insurance company, or the court rules in your favor if you have to go to trial, you could receive compensation for many of the losses related to the accident and your injuries.

Drunk driving accident victims may receive compensation for:

• Medical treatment costs including ambulance services, emergency room treatment, hospital stay, diagnostic tests, surgery, follow-up care, prescription medication, and travel expenses to and from the doctor or hospital.
• Estimated future medical treatment costs when a drunk driver causes severe injuries that require more surgery, more recovery time, or a permanent disability that requires ongoing care and treatment.
• Rehabilitation costs including specialized treatment such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, or other specialized treatment to help drunk driving accident victims cope with the physical and emotional fallout from their injuries.
• Expenses for medical devices and technology to help accident victims. This may include wheelchairs, crutches, and special computer software for communication.
• Lost income from time away from their job resulting from injury, hospitalization, and recovery.
• Lost earning capacity when injuries from a drunk driving accident prevent a victim from returning to work or seeking future employment.
• Pain and suffering.
• Mental distress.
• Diminished quality of life.
• Loss of consortium with a spouse if applicable.
• Scarring and disfigurement.

Texas courts reserve exemplary damages, which are sometimes referred to as punitive damages, for rare situations. Exemplary damages serve to punish defendants for egregious negligence and deter them and others from future negligent behavior.

According to Texas law, plaintiffs in lawsuits must prove a drunk driver acted out of fraud, malice, or gross negligence. In some drunk driving accident cases, courts find that a drunk driver acted with gross negligence, especially if they have a history of drinking and driving. The burden of proof lies with the plaintiff, which means your attorney must prove the drunk driver acted with gross negligence.

Your attorney can evaluate the circumstances of your drunk driving accident and advise you on whether you might be eligible for exemplary damages. Contact Patino Law Firm today for more information.

Criminal prosecution for the crime of driving under the influence of alcohol is completely different from a civil lawsuit to determine financial liability for damages related to injuries. A drunk driving criminal conviction in Texas carries penalties such as fines, license revocation, license suspension, and potential time in jail. A jury must find the driver guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a criminal trial, and the decision must be unanimous.

The outcome of a civil trial decides who is financially responsible for damages related to a drunk driving accident. Juries in civil trials are not held to the same standard as those in criminal trials. The majority of a jury must agree that the defendant is more likely responsible for damages than not based on a preponderance of the evidence. Criminal proceedings for drunk driving often end before a civil lawsuit begins. The criminal trial outcome does not impact the civil trial, but some lawyers choose to wait for the outcome to help build a case for their clients.

Like many other states, Texas has laws that govern liability when businesses serve alcohol to customers who cause injuries after they leave the establishment. These laws, called dram shop laws, outline the extent to which a business or their employees may be financially responsible for their customers’ actions if they cause injuries after the business has served them alcohol.

Texas’s Alcoholic Beverage Code contains its dram shop laws, which require the following to take legal action against the business that served alcohol to the driver who caused your injuries:

• The bartender or whoever served alcohol must have known the patron was intoxicated and would pose a danger to others.
• The driver’s intoxication caused the accident, injuries, and associated losses.

Businesses are not the only entities that open themselves up to potential liability when they serve alcohol to drivers. Social hosts could also be liable for damages related to a drunk driving accident if they knowingly give alcohol to a minor and that alcohol contributes to the intoxication that led to an accident. Even social hosts who allow minors to get drunk but do not provide alcohol could be liable if the minor gets behind the wheel and causes a dangerous accident.

Under Texas law, all drivers who register a motor vehicle must carry a minimum amount of bodily injury liability (BIL) coverage unless they have the financial resources to self-insure and pay for damages if they cause a traffic collision. If the drunk driver does not have BIL coverage or has a low policy limit compared to damages, you may have limited options to recover losses related to your injuries.

If you have uninsured motorist (UM) or underinsured motorist (UI) coverage, you can file a claim under your own auto insurance policy to recover losses. If you do not have UM or UI coverage, you must absorb your losses or bring a lawsuit directly against the drunk driver who caused you harm. Yet, if the driver had the financial resources to pay damages in a lawsuit, they would likely also have the money to carry the proper amount of auto insurance. Courts sometimes garnish wages to collect judgments from defendants, but it could take years before you see any money, if at all.

Yes, you could sue your friend to seek compensation for damages related to the injuries you suffered in a drunk driving accident. You might feel uncomfortable about making a legal claim against a friend, but the medical costs and lost wages you have likely incurred as a result of your injuries can cause financial hardship. Think of your future, and try to avoid economic loss if you choose to file a lawsuit.

You can try to preserve your friendship by letting a drunk driving attorney handle communication with the insurance company. The fact that you chose to get in a vehicle with someone who had been drinking could negatively impact the value of your claim, but you may still receive some compensation to alleviate the economic burden you face.

The majority of accident injury claims settle long before you or your lawyer would need to go in front of a court. Court costs are expensive, so both sides have an incentive to negotiate a settlement so they can avoid the added expense of litigation.

If major disagreements about liability occur, you might have to go to trial. In a drunk driving accident claim, the defense might try to argue their client was not negligent. Yet, this is difficult in drunk driving accident claims. Most settlement negotiations in drunk driving accident claims focus on how much a claim is worth. If the insurance company refuses to compensate you fairly for your accident injuries, you will likely have to testify in court.

Some McAllen drunk driving accident claims move quickly, but other times, negotiations do not work out, and the case goes to trial. Litigation typically means you will have to wait before you see a resolution.

Some factors that change the time you need to wait for compensation include:

• Severity and nature of injuries. Your attorney will likely try to let you physically recover as much as possible to find out your long-term chances of full recovery. This is so he or she can more accurately assess the impact of your injuries. Severe injuries take more time to heal, which increases the time you would need to wait.
• Disputes over liability. If the drunk driver disputes liability, you will likely have to go to court. The defense may try to shift the blame for the accident to you or another driver. Litigation adds a significant amount of time to the length of a claim.
• Number of people in the drunk driving accident. More drivers and occupants translate to more paperwork, coordinating schedules, and more parties to shift blame. This can make negotiations difficult, and sometimes leads to litigation.
• Witness availability. Eyewitnesses and expert witnesses can play a role in drunk driving accident cases. Taking statements and arranging testimony sometimes takes weeks or months and can increase the amount of time you need to wait to reach a settlement or fight your case out in court.

Yes. Criminal cases are completely separate from civil cases and McAllen drunk driving accident claims. Even if the at-fault driver is found not guilty in a criminal case, he or she can still be found at fault in a civil case. In a criminal case, the prosecutor needs to show that a defendant was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. However, in a civil case, you only need to establish a defendant’s culpability by a preponderance of the evidence (a lower threshold).

The first thing you should do following a drunk driving accident is call 911. The responding police officers can determine who needs emergency medical treatment while also investigating the accident scene.Additionally, if it is safe for you to do so, you should try to collect as much evidence from the accident area as possible. Take photos and/or videos of the accident scene, including any visible injuries, the motor vehicles involved, any skid marks on the road or other road hazards, any traffic signs near the accident scene, and the weather conditions.

Documenting the accident immediately after the crash can help you prove your case, especially if any evidence gets lost. If you see any witnesses, also make sure to get their names and contact information. Their statements can provide you with helpful information when trying to establish fault.

Finally, even if you do not think your injuries are significant, you should still get examined by a medical professional. These doctors can verify that you do not have any hidden or undisclosed injuries, while also providing you with the necessary treatment. The doctors will also write down all of the injuries that you’ve sustained in a medical report. This report will be especially helpful if the insurance company decides to argue that you received your injuries from a superseding event rather than from the drunk driving accident.

Drunk driving accidents can lead to disastrous results and devastating injuries, such as spinal cord damage, traumatic brain injury, and severe disfigurement. As a victim, you deserve compensation that can provide you with the critical medical care you need. In Texas, you may qualify to receive the following damages:

Economic damages: These are easily quantifiable damages meant to help you recover the out-of-pocket expenses that you’ve incurred due to the accident.

Depending on the specific circumstances of the accident, potential economic damages include:

• Medical expenses and bills (including past and future medical costs)
• Lost wages (including past and future wages)
• Lost earning capacity
• Personal property damages
• Rehabilitative services
• Household services expenses
• Medical devices, such as a wheelchair
• At-home nursing care expenses
• Other out-of-pocket expenses

Non-economic damages: These damages are not easily quantifiable. They are somewhat subjective and more difficult to calculate. They include:

• Pain and suffering
• Mental anguish
• Emotional distress
• Loss of companionship
• Loss of consortium
• Disfigurement or disability
• Loss of enjoyment of life

Punitive damages: Texas law permits courts to award exemplary damages, also known as punitive damages. These damages are only awarded in specific circumstances where a defendant’s actions were so egregious that they warrant additional punishment. These damages are also intended to deter similar actions in the future. Texas law caps these damages at the larger of $200,000 or two times the economic damages amount plus an equal amount of non-economic damages up to a max of $750,000.

Nobody can undo the damage that you suffered as a result of a drunk driving accident. However, with the help of an experienced McAllen drunk driving accident attorney, you can go after compensation to help you move on with your life.

If you were injured in an accident in Texas, you generally have two years from the accident date to file a claim. However, certain circumstances may shorten or lengthen this time period.Talk to a McAllen drunk driving accident attorney as quickly as possible. An experienced attorney can help you figure out not only if you have a viable claim, but also how much time you have to file.

In general, you should not wait too long to file your McAllen drunk driving accident claim. Over time, memories of the accident can fade, witnesses may no longer be around to testify, and evidence can disappear. All of which, unfortunately, can end up hindering your case and your chance of success.