If You’ve Been Injured in a Drunken Driving Wreck in Texarkana Texas, Contact Michael Grossman, a Texarkana Drunk Driver Accident Attorney
One of the more devastating events you or your family can suffer is going through a drunk driver accident. These accidents are not only senseless, but they can cause serious injury to yourself or they may cause the death of a family member or loved one.
If you or a loved one has gone through such a regrettable and tragic mishap, you should immediately retain skilled, aggressive and experienced legal aid so that you can receive full and fair compensation for your injuries and losses. Texarkana drunk driver accident attorney Michael Grossman has over twenty years of experience in dealing with drunk driving personal injury and wrongful death lawsuits. The drunk driving accident attorneys at Grossman Law Offices are intimately familiar with Texas alcoholic beverage law and regulation, and they can aid you in your personal injury or wrongful death legal action so that you can receive the justice and full and fair compensation so that you can begin to rebuild your life after enduring injury and loss due to another person’s careless and negligent actions.
The below web article from Grossman Law Offices will inform you on your legal alternatives should you be faced with a drunken driver accident in Texarkana and east Texas. Most drunk driver accident cases are never as clear-cut as they may seem at first blush, and the below information will help you educate yourself about why that is usually the case. Nevertheless, this information is not intended to substitute for true legal counsel. Drunk driving cases generally have many different aspects to them that compel different legal alternatives to be taken, and it is to your benefit to quickly seek skilled legal representation if you or a family member has been harmed in a drunk driving accident. After reading what we have to say, feel free to call Grossman Law Offices toll free at 1-855-239-1290 for a free consultation and to discuss your possible legal alternatives.
The Difference Between Drunk Driving Accidents and Normal Passenger Vehicle Accidents
There are two primary differences between regular passenger vehicle mishaps and drunk driving incident cases. The main difference is that intoxicated drivers typically cause a significantly greater amount of damage to both passengers and passersby and property than those who cause accidents due to a fleeting lack of attention while at the steering wheel. Moreover, and as you would think, there are dramatically increased fatality rates in drunk driving incidents than in accidents caused by sober drivers. Due to the increased damage and fatality rates, pursuing a drunk driving lawsuit can prove to be challenging to non lawyers and inexperienced attorneys because so much money is at stake. The insurance company that covers the drunk driver will aggressively defend their interests.
The second difference between a passenger vehicle mishap and a drunk driving accident is that though the drunk driver obviously seems to be at fault for any deaths, injuries or property damage he or she has caused, many times there are other parties that can also be held responsible for the mishap. Or to state it differently, both the drunk driver and other responsible parties can be held liable for your incident, which can mean the possibility, if not probability, of increased compensation for the pain and suffering you’ve endured in the horrific accident. This is why you need to secure the services of a competent and aggressive Texarkana drunk driving accident lawyer to help you find and hold accountable all responsible parties for their reckless and negligent behavior.
More Than the Drunk Driver Can be Held Liable for Your Drunk Driver Accident.
It’s a no-brainer that with most drunk driving accidents, the intoxicated driver is at fault for any deaths or injuries that are a consequence of their contemptible and irresponsible actions. But if your injuries and losses are severe, and you are in dire need of compensation and recompense to cover medical or funeral expenses, pursuing a personal injury or wrongful death claim against the driver immediately may not be the best first choice of action to seek full and fair compensation for your injuries or losses. Justice demands these drunk drivers be held accountable and punished for their recklessness, but there are sometimes more parties that can be held responsible in a Texarkana drunken driving accident. These parties may have enabled the careless behavior of the drunk driver with the result being a violent or fatal accident.
Texas dram shop law permits injured or harmed parties to bring a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit against any establishment that willfully serves intoxicated patrons and enables their drinking to the point that their blood alcohol content exceeds the legal limit of .08%, or the establishment in question knowingly permits a drunk customer to drive away from their bar or restaurant to endanger other drivers and pedestrians. Stated differently, the alcohol serving establishment can be held liable for any accidents that involve their intoxicated clientele. This is the way third parties can be involved in a Texarkana drunken driving incident. In this case, the serving establishment can be held vicariously liable for the drunk driving mishap.
Why Are Alcohol Service Establishments Held Liable For Drunken Driving Mishaps?
Should every alcohol serving institution strictly obey Texas law and not permit their clientele to leave their establishments while drunk or otherwise intoxicated, the number of drunken driving associated deaths and injuries would highly likely decrease. To help increase this social good, bars and alcohol serving restaurants and establishment are also held responsible for their drunken customers’ careless and negligent behavior–this is to reduce the number of drunken driving accident related injuries and fatalities. But as we all know, Texas law does not prevent its citizens from getting behind the wheel while drunk.
It also just so happens that these bars and restaurants, if found negligent of over serving alcohol, usually have a greater capacity to pay full and fair compensation for the injured or harmed party. These alcohol serving establishments will usually pay out the increased computation in order to save their reputation with the community. Furthermore, by holding alcohol serving institutions responsible for their actions, the general public is made aware that profit over the public’s well-being cannot be tolerated where the public’s safety is concerned.
You should be aware that merely pursuing a legal action against an alcohol serving establishment does not automatically mean you should assume that the negligent establishment will pay out a significantly increased compensation. It the establishment in question and the drunk driver are co-defendants in a legal action, the judge and jury will determine what percentage of responsibility each party is liable to pay out. Stated differently, whatever party has the majority percentage of responsibility will be liable for the majority of your compensation. Nevertheless, this should not stop you from holding each party from owning up to each’ share of responsibility. Drunken driving accident injuries and fatalities demand that the answerable party be accountable to justice; and also, by holding multiple parties liable for their negligent actions, you stand an increased chance of being fully and fairly compensated for your injuries and/or losses. In other words, the chances of you seeing greater compensation is enhanced by holding all negligent parties accountable.
What is Texas Law in Regard to Drunk Driving?
State law forbids those with a blood alcohol content level of .08% or more to be out in public or from driving a motor vehicle. Furthermore, state law prohibits alcohol serving establishments from excessive alcohol service which causes the imbibing customer’s BAC to surpass .08%. Texas law attempts to limit public alcohol consumption because experience and research show that intoxicated persons are unable to adequately reason, judge and think for themselves and they become unable to safely drive while under the influence of alcohol. Since drunk patrons are unable to reason, judge and think for themselves, a server or bartender must make that determination on the customer’s behalf. It is at this point that a server and/or bartender have an obligation to public safety by attempting to make every practical effort to stop a drunk patron from getting behind the wheel of a car.
Alcohol serving establishment are aware that they have this responsibility to the public and as a result they have devised many programs to help take care of their intoxicated clienteles if they should become too drunk to drive. For instance, certain bars and restaurants ally with taxi cab businesses to give drunk patrons reduced fares for trips home, or they offer free appetizers for designated drivers who are patronizing the establishment with a group. Should a bar or restaurant not offer these and other programs or services to their clientele, there is nothing worse for a bar or restaurant’s reputation or worse for its profitability than for it to be accused of over serving alcohol to its clientele and to threaten it with a drunk driving personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. Texarkana drunk driver accident attorneys from Grossman Law Offices have over twenty years of experience with Texas dram shop law and we are very good at helping our clients in receiving out of court settlements with negligent bars and restaurants, and we are able to ensure that you receive full and fair compensation for medical and/or funeral expenses, lost and future lost wages and property damage bills you’ve received as a result of another’s carelessness or negligence.
What is Proximate Cause in a Drunk Driving Claim?
Almost all Texas bartenders and alcohol servers are required to be certified by the state in order to be employed and to perform their alcohol serving duties, and because of this certification, bartenders and servers are acutely aware of their duties to their customers and their obligation to public safety. When these servers neglect to uphold their obligations, whatever the reason may be, and their actions or inactions cause a drunk driving accident that results in fatalities or serious injury, the bartender or server in question is said to be a “proximate cause” of the drunken driving mishap. They are partially liable for the drunk driver’s accident.
Bars and Restaurants Legal Obligations
Bartenders and servers can be found responsible for drunk driving mishaps because they are required to know and understand the many legal obligations that are attached to employees in their profession:
- Bars and alcohol serving restaurants are required to have every one of their servers licensed by the
- Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission (TABC). This certification requires intense training in the legal obligations involved in serving alcohol to the public. Alcohol serving establishments cannot legitimately plead ignorance for their negligence.
- The State of Texas expects that alcohol serving establishments will have appropriate procedures, practices and policies that declare how alcohol is distributed and tracked at their respective bars.
- There is an expectation that alcohol serving establishment will have guidelines and protocols in place showing servers how to handle intoxicated clientele and that all servers both know and abide by these protocols.
- There is an understanding that all servers are to look for the often unmistakable indicators that a person is becoming too intoxicated to get behind the wheel of an automobile.
When confronted with negligence or liability for a drunk driving accident, many bars and restaurants will resort to what is known as the “safe harbor defense” in order to protect their interest and show that they have no responsibility for the accident in question. If an alcohol serving establishment can show that its servers and employees have followed all of the expectations that we’ve just discussed, then the establishment in question will not be held accountable for injuries or fatalities caused by one of their intoxicated clientele who was involved in a drunken driving mishap. The alcohol serving establishment is then said to be in a safe harbor. Since all bars and restaurants are aware of this safe harbor defense, they will try to hide their carelessness, recklessness or other negligence behind the veil of this defense. The problem is however, that it is very difficult to establish that the restaurant or bar is lying about meeting those expectations and guidelines, and the problem is further complicated by the fact that the victim or his or her loved ones bear the burden of proof in trying to prove that the alcohol serving establishment is being deceptive, deceitful or otherwise trying to cover up their negligence. You or your legal representation bear the task of proving the restaurant or bar enabled the drunk driver’s drinking and that this negligence led to the drunken driving mishap. Proving the relationship between the establishment and the drunk driving incident is a very challenging undertaking, and this can be too much for inexperienced lawyers and new law firms, but the Texarkana drunken driver accident lawyers at Grossman Law Offices have been handling Texas dram shop personal liability and wrongful death suits for over twenty years. We are intimately acquainted with this deceptive tactic and we will dedicate our efforts to exposing it and helping you receive the justice and full and fair compensation that is rightfully yours for your injury and/or loss.
It is in Your Best Interest to Contact a Texarkana Drunk Driver Accident Attorney as Soon as Possible After Your Mishap
We absolutely know that you are working your way through a very trying time, especially if you’ve lost a family member or have suffered a serious injury. Part of the rebuilding process is seeking financial compensation for your loss and/or injury. It does not matter if you think you may not have the time, money or strength to pursue a legal action against negligent parties, but it more than likely the best course of action you or your loved ones can take.
If you have any questions regarding pursuing a personal injury or wrongful death claim for your drunken driving accident, please call Grossman Law Offices toll free at 1-855-239-1290 for a free consultation and discussion of your legal or other alternatives for your unique situation.
Moreover, if you’ve been involved in a Texarkana drunk driver accident, you should take immediate action. Waiting too long to make a decision on a course of legal action could seriously harm your case or cause you to have no case at all because the evidence you will need to receive your full and fair compensation quickly degrades, gets lost and otherwise simply disappears. Ensure that you receive adequate compensation to begin to rebuild your life. We can help you in your time of distress and need.
