We believe without doubt that drunk driving represents the greatest highway risk today. As attorneys, we play a vital role in bringing drunk drivers to justice when criminal penalties alone may not suffice. When a drunk driver hurts a client of ours, we target the wrongdoer and make him pay. Injured victims deserve justice. Drunk drivers deserve to be held responsible.

Higher Criminal Penalties May Not Be Enough

It seems that almost every year, our lawmakers wisely seek to tighten the criminal drunk driving laws and eliminate legal loopholes available to drunk drivers. By way of example, Virginia has followed many other states in lowering the threshold blood alcohol content (BAC) level for intoxication from .10 to .08.

Also, police may now measure a drunk driver's intoxication level with a breath analyzer only, as opposed to the more difficult blood sample analysis often used in the past.

Finally, criminal sanctions such as mandatory jail sentences, fines, and license revocations are now tougher.

Nonetheless, the news about drunk driving does not appear to get much better. Nationally, we can expect a drunk driving death on our highways roughly every 30 minutes.

In short, despite lawmakers' best efforts, drunk driving continues to be a menace.

Drunk Driving Cases Differ From the Rest.

Drunk driving cases tend to involve serious collisions and serious injuries. These cases by their very nature require experienced and focused attorneys.

In addition to the serious injuries or even death that can arise from drunk driving, these cases also tend to involve higher emotional and financial ramifications. We know from experience that insurance companies will invest more money, time, and resources on the case when legally defending a drunk driver. Insurers are more likely to take additional defense measures such as hiring teams of accident reconstructionists or toxicology experts in order to avoid liability.

Therefore, we as attorneys must be aggressive as well if we wish to "even the field" against drunk drivers and their insurance companies.

Proving Intoxication is the Key.

Proving the fault (by intoxication) of the drunk driver may be more challenging than would be expected. Often, we can make use of the evidence compiled by the police in prosecuting the wrongdoer. This may include the officer's field notes, photographs, and observations of the suspect. We typically work closely with police officers to develop this evidence. We can also rely upon the findings of the scientific analysis performed on the suspect's breath or blood sample given after his arrest.

However, in many cases we are unable to make use of this evidence. After all, drunk drivers who cause injury to others are not always caught by the police, or they may be arrested but escape conviction through legal technicalities.

In such cases, we as attorneys are called upon to devise our own solutions. In the absence of police evidence, we have worked with toxicology experts to prove that a particular driver was in fact drunk on a certain occasion. We have also turned to other forms of evidence such as eyewitness testimony, hospital admission records, and hospital toxicology screenings to prove cases of drunk driving.

The Punitive Damage Issue

In specific cases, victims of drunk drivers may be able to recover additional money damages known as punitive damages. As the name suggests, punitive damages are intended to punish the wrongdoer and hopefully deter similar conduct in the future. They also provide extra compensation to victims, which is certainly fair. Punitive damages are rare in Virginia, but completely appropriate in drunk driving cases.

We view that punitive damages are a powerful victim's right in the fight against drunk drivers. This form of damages can also be a valuable weapon to "even the field" against their insurance companies and defense attorneys as well. We pursue punitive damages to the fullest extent possible under the law.

In summation, we take drunk driving cases seriously and are proud of our results.

Additional Statistics

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2006, 17,602 people were killed in alchohol related collisions. This is an average of one death almost every 30 minutes. These deaths amount to 41% of all traffic fatalities.

About 3 in every 10 Americans will be involved in an alcohol-related crash at some time in their lives. (NHTSA, 2001).

In 2001, more than half a million people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present - an average of one person injured roughly every minute.

For fatal crashes occurring from midnight to 3:00 a.m., 77% involved alcohol in 2003. The next most dangerous time period for alcohol related crash deaths were 9:00 p.m. to midnight (64% involved alcohol). (NHTSA 2004).

Library for Drunk Driving Accidents:

Impaired Driving – What Can Be Done?
Description: Alcohol-related fatalities are a major problem in the United States. Federal and State governments are attempting to take action and pass laws to cut down on the number of impaired drivers on our roads. The federal government has published a number of guidelines that states are expected to follow in order to reduce fatalities and accidents from impaired drivers, and the state of Virginia has recently enacted new laws in an attempt to reach these goals.

Web Resources for Drunk Driving Accidents:

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Dulaney, Lauer & Thomas, LLP
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Phone: 888-907-2631

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