SAN DIEGO DUI ACCIDENT LAWYER

San Diego DUI Accident Injury Frequently Asked Questions

The San Diego DUI accident lawyer from the Law Offices of Samer Habbas & Associates has expansive knowledge and experience in handling San Diego DUI accident injury cases. With that in mind, the Samer Habbas & Associates team has put together the following list of answers to some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) that they encounter when working with DUI accident victims and their families.

What should I do if I am injured in a drunk driving accident?

Anyone involved in a San Diego DUI accident should take the following steps:

• Dial 911: Anyone involved in an accident with a drunk driver must immediately call 911 so that the police and other first responders can be summoned to the accident scene. The evidence collected by these first responders and their accident reports will be crucial to the success of your case. Once the police have arrived, you should provide them with as much detailed information about the accident as possible. That includes information about the moments leading up to and immediately following the incident. All of this information will be incredibly important in your DUI accident claim.
• Seek Immediate Medical Attention: Your health and safety following a DUI crash should be your number one priority. Even if your injuries do not seem to be life-threatening or severe, you must be checked out by first responders and follow up with urgent care, the emergency room, or your primary care physician. These early medical diagnoses will be crucial to any accident claim you may file
• Contact a San Diego DUI accident lawyer: Once you have addressed any immediate medical issues, you should contact a San Diego DUI accident lawyerspecializing in injuries resulting from an accident caused by a drunk driver. You will want to work with a legal team that can help you get the justice and compensation you deserve. San Diego drunk driving accidents, particularly those involving injury, will likely include criminal and civil court proceedings.

How do drunk drivers survive most accidents?

When it comes to a motor vehicle accident, three separate impacts result from a collision:

• Impact #1: The vehicle hits another object.
• Impact #2 The driver (or passenger) hits the vehicle’s interior.
• Impact #3: The victim’s internal organs slam against the inside of their body.

While this is happening, an accident victim undergoes rapid deceleration, which causes an enormous strain on the body. Sober people tend to tense up just before the collision compounding the effects of the second and third impacts. The experience is quite different, however, for drunk drivers.

Because alcohol is a depressant, it slows down an individual’s reaction time, so there is a greater likelihood that the drunk driver will suffer fewer severe injuries. Since the drunken driver has not braced for impact, their body will take the path of least resistance upon impact. While that might be good news for the drunk driver, it doesn’t always work out so well for victims of DUI accidents.

Who is responsible for drunk driving accidents?

Driving drunk isn’t just illegal; it is selfish and dangerous. It is one of the leading causes of traffic accidents in the United States. The use of alcohol can significantly impact a person’s ability to steer, pay attention to the road, judge distances, and multitask while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 29 people are killed by drunk drivers every day in the United States. Many more suffer serious, life-altering injuries following a drunk driving accident.

Although California places the liability of a drunk driving accident solely on the driver themselves, there are several instances where other parties may be held responsible. These parties include:

• The vehicle owner: If the drunk driver who caused the accident was operating a vehicle that they did not own, the owner is also responsible under California’s Financial Responsibility Law. The motor vehicle owner may also be liable for negligence if they knew or should have known about the driver’s previous drinking and driving record but let them drive anyway.
• The driver’s employer: Employers of truck drivers, taxi drivers, and other commercial vehicle drivers who drive drunk and cause an accident will usually share liability for that driver’s actions. The employer may also be liable for negligence if they knew or should have known about the driver’s previous drinking and driving record but let them drive for the company anyway.
• Social hosts, bars, and restaurants: In California, anyone who serves an intoxicated person will have limited liability in a DUI accident claim, but only if the driver is under 21.

What percent of car accidents are caused by alcohol?

Seven percent of all traffic accidents involved the use of alcohol, according to estimates from the U.S. Department of Transportation, and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. They also report that drunk driving is to blame for more than 10,000 deaths each year, which is 28 percent of all accident fatalities.

Contact a San Diego DUI Accident Injury lawyer if You’ve Been Injured by a Drunk Driver

If you or a loved one has been injured by a negligent drunk driver in San Diego, you may be entitled to compensation. Don’t delay! Contact an experienced San Diego dui accident lawyer before you speak to anyone else about the details of the accident.

The experienced DUI accident attorneys from the Law Offices of Samer Habbas and Associates know how injuries from an accident caused by a drunk driver can devastate a victim and the toll that it can take on families. The compassionate law team at Samer Habbas and Associates will take the time to sit down with you and your family to go over your options and determine how best to handle your personal injury claim moving forward.

Please call us at 888-848-5084 to discuss your case with an expert San Diego DUI accident lawyer, or fill out our free consultation form today to get started.