Dallas Drunk Driver Accident Attorney

Dallas Drunk Driver Accident Attorney Micheal Grossman on Your Legal Options if You’ve Been Injured in a Drunk Driving Accident

Accidents involving drunk drivers are nightmares visiting reality. Such nightmares will occur to at least thirty percent of the U.S. population at some point in their lives.

Approximately every 45 minutes per day, a person is killed by a drunk driver. These staggering statistics attest to the brutal reality of the immense amount of damage that a drunk driver can accomplish through their negligent, careless, and selfish behavior. If you’ve been injured in a Texas drunk driving wreck, or have lost a loved one due to a drunk driver’s negligent behavior, you likely have merit in seeking compensation for your injury or loss through a personal injury or wrongful death lawsuit. However, many people who’ve experienced such a devastating accident are often hesitant to contact an attorney, or may not be familiar with the process to do so. Furthermore, these victims may simply be unaware of their legal options. For instance, are you aware that alcohol-serving establishments may be compelled to award you compensation based on their role in a Texas drunk driving accident resulting in your injury or loss? The following article delves into Texas dram shop law, as well as your legal options in pursuing compensation from a liable party or parties so that you can begin the recovery process. Dallas drunk driving accident lawyer Michael Grossman offers this information so that you can make an informed decision regarding your legal next steps.

The Unique Aspects of Drunken Driving Accidents

In comparison to otherwise normal auto accidents, drunk drivers can cause an immense amount of damage that is often all-too-readily apparent in the property damage, severe personal injury, or loss of life that they cause. As a result, such drivers will be faced with heavier penalties, and the damages sought in drunk driving accident cases will often be quite sizable. With a sizable sum of compensation on the line, aggressive legal action is often necessary in order to ensure that a plaintiff is fairly compensated for their injury or loss so that they can fully recover from the accident. Additionally, drunk driving accident cases often have multiple liable parties who will share liability for the accident, and each unique defendant must have a specific case built against them, holding them accountable for their negligent role in the drunken driving accident.

Liable Parties in a Dallas Drunk Driving Wreck

The first likely liable suspect in a drunk driving accident is the driver. Any driver whose negligence results in an accident causing injury or death can be held liable for the victim’s injury or death. This is so because all drivers owe a legal duty to all other drivers to provide for their safety while on the road. When such a legal duty has been violated, resulting in an injury or death, then the liable party can be held accountable for the damages incurred by the victim, either through a personal injury lawsuit or a wrongful death lawsuit. In other words, had the negligent driver not have been drunk but had still caused an accident resulting in your injury or loss, they could still be held liable for the accident. However, when a negligent driver is drunk, then there’s often a high likelihood that an additional party will be liable in the form of an alcohol-serving establishment like a bar or a restaurant.

These entities are held vicariously liable for a drunken driving accident if a connection can be made showing their negligent behavior contributed to the chain of events leading up to a drunk driving wreck. The law that governs this issue is part of the Texas Civil Practices and Remedies Code and is known as Texas dram shop law. Proving a connection between a negligent bar and a drunk driving accident can be challenging, especially for law firms that have little to no prior experience in Texas dram shop cases. However, proving such a connection in these types of cases is important since a negligent alcohol-serving establishment will then be responsible for awarding a plaintiff a proportionate amount of compensation based in their own role in the accident. With 20 years of experience in cases involving Texas dram shop causes of action, Dallas drunk driving accident attorney Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices are well-prepared to investigate a drunk driving accident in order to see if a negligent alcohol-serving entity may have contributed to the drunk driving wreck.

Why is the Bar Liable?

Many people that are unfamiliar with Texas dram shop law are often surprised to learn that a bar or restaurant can be held vicariously liable for another person’s decision to drink and drive. It’s assumed that, since an alcohol-serving establishment can’t control a person, then they shouldn’t be held liable for that person’s actions after leaving their establishment. However, there are sound reasons behind Texas dram shop law and why bars and restaurants can be held liable in these instances.

The Bar’s Responsibilities in Serving Alcohol

Texas dram shop law is not intended to take the civil pressure off of a drunken driver for their negligent behavior and place it onto a bar or restaurant. A drunk driver will still be held responsible for an accident causing injury or death, regardless of whether or not a bar or restaurant was involved, such as occurs when a person has gotten drunk while at home and then proceeds to drive while intoxicated. However, Texas dram shop law works to ensure the public safety by ensuring that alcohol-serving establishments are responsible in their care of their patrons and their dispersal of alcohol.

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For instance, it’s against the law in Texas to be in public, which includes driving, with a blood alcohol content level in excess of .08%. According to Texas law, such a person poses a danger to both themselves and to those around them, and that person cannot be entrusted with making reasonable decisions because of the way in which such a blood alcohol content level has affected them. As a result, Texas dram shop law forbids a bar or restaurant from over-serving a patron so that they bypass a blood alcohol content level of .08%. If such over-serving occurs and the inebriated individual causes a wreck resulting in injury or loss of life, the bar or restaurant could be held partially liable for that accident. Unfortunately, over-serving can occur for any number of reasons, from a bartender’s desire to get a better tip to an over-worked server missing the signs of an inebriated patron. However, since a drunk patron cannot make a reasonable decision in regards to their driving ability, another responsible entity is left with that decision, which is why Texas dram shop law works to hold such negligent alcohol-serving establishments accountable for their actions that may have contributed to a drunk driving accident. The same type of liability occurs if a bar knowingly allows an intoxicated individual to drive off of their premises, or if an alcohol-selling establishment allows minors to purchase alcohol.

If such vicarious responsibility still fails to make complete sense to you, consider the following example: If you had surgery and were given anaesthesia for the procedure, would the doctor allow you to drive home before the effects of the anaesthesia had worn off? Such a choice would be highly irresponsible behavior by the doctor, and could likely cause you or others to suffer an injury or death if you drove under such an intoxicated state. In such an example, the doctor would be vicariously liable for any accident that you may have caused. Likewise, an alcohol-serving establishment can be held liable if they have contributed to a drunk driving accident.

Furthermore, bars, restaurants, and other alcohol-serving establishments cannot plead ignorance to these issues either, since each of these entities, in order to legally serve alcohol, must have acquired a liquor license through the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. To keep this license, the entity must maintain compliance with the rules of regulations regarding alcohol distribution and serving as set forth by the State. Additionally, bartenders, waiters, and servers that work at these types of places must undergo training in which they learn the signs of inebriation and are informed about their legal duties in serving alcohol to patrons. As such, any person or entity involved in legally providing alcohol to a patron cannot plead ignorance in regards to Texas dram shop law.

Restaurants and bars must also have written policies in regards to their tracking of their patrons’ consumption of alcohol, which require detailed records to be kept about the quantity and type of alcohol consumed on their premises. Effective methods for tracking consumption include tally sheets, color-coding of glasses or coasters, or even hand signals, so that servers are informed about what’s being served, and how much is being served, while on their watch. Additionally, a bar or restaurant must have a known way of handling intoxicated individuals. In many instances, the manager will make quick work of the situation, refusing to keep serving that person drinks, and by offering food (which can neutralize unabsorbed alcohol) or a ride home via a cab or taxi service, ensuring that the intoxicated patron actually enters the cab and leaves as well. In instances where a patron may surreptitiously bring their own alcohol to a restaurant, such as by using a flask, the supervisor will see to it that the alcohol is removed from the patron.

What Are the Signs of Intoxication?

Servers and bartenders must be familiar with the signs of intoxication and must keep a vigilant watch over their patrons in order to ensure a patron isn’t served to the point of intoxication. Such signs are often quite obvious, such as slurred speech, incoherent thought, drowsiness, overly aggressive behavior, or other such noticeable behavior. However, there are some patrons that can hold their liquor, so to speak, and may not show obvious signs of intoxication when they are in fact drunk. In such instances, a server must keep track of the number of drinks served to such a person, since the patron can still be intoxicated even if they’re not showing obvious signs of drunkenness. The standard used to calculate drunkenness is that one person should not be served more than two 20-ounce servings of beer per hour, or two glasses of wine, or one shot of liquor or one shot of a liquor-based cocktail. If these limits are exceeded, it’s quite likely that such a patron will eventually exceed the legal .08% blood alcohol content level.

Do Texas Dram Shop Laws Seek All Compensation from the Bar or Restaurant?

Texas dram shop law is not meant to seek 100% of the compensation for a plaintiff’s damages from the negligent alcohol-serving establishment. Dram shop law is used to hold these entities partially liable for a drunk driving accident, allowing an aggrieved party to seek compensation from both the drunk driver and the alcohol-serving establishment that may have been involved in the accident. Each defendant will then be responsible for possibly awarding compensation to a plaintiff based on their percentage of liability in the drunk driving accident. For example, if a plaintiff has incurred $1,000,000 in damages, and a bar is held only 10% liable, then the bar would only be responsible for awarding $100,000 in compensation to the victim, and the drunk driver, if responsible for the remaining 90% of the wreck, would be liable for $900,000. If legal action was only taken against the bar, then the compensation awarded would likely be much less than what is adequate to cover the damages a victim has likely incurred. Furthermore, the bar or restaurant will never hold 100% of the liability, and therefore will never be held accountable for 100% of the compensation, since the entity was not wholly responsible for the accident. Texas dram shop law is not meant to hold a bar wholly accountable for a drunk driving accident, but it is meant to make defendants responsible for their role in contributing to an injurious or fatal drunk driving accident.

What Does Proximate Cause Mean?

In Dallas drunk driving accidents, the legal term “proximate cause” may be used often. Such a term refers to a defendant that was not a direct cause of an accident, but contributed to an accident. In drunk driving wrecks, a proximate cause is often a negligent alcohol-serving establishment. Other proximate causes can include third-parties that may have also contributed to an accident, such as a manufacturer of a faulty safety device. If an outside party can be proven to have been a contributing factor to an accident resulting in injury or death, then that proximate cause will likely be another defendant in addition to the defendant that directly caused the accident.

What is the Safe Harbor Defense?

When an alcohol-serving establishment is identified as a possible liable party for a Texas drunk driving accident, a defense counsel for the bar or restaurant will likely employ the safe harbor defense. In order for such a defense to be successful, the defense team must be able to prove that the alcohol-serving establishment followed all State guidelines in regards to their serving of alcohol. If such compliance can be proven, then the bar or restaurant is offered safe harbor and will likely be immune to a lawsuit. However, defense attorneys for negligent bars or restaurants will know about the safe harbor defense, and will attempt to prove that such an entity was compliant with the law when in fact they were not so that a personal injury or wrongful death claim will be denied. In these instances, it can be vitally important toward the successful outcome of your drunk driving accident case to have the legal help of an experienced Dallas drunk driving accident lawyer like Michael Grossman and his team at Grossman Law Offices to undertake a thorough investigation so that all liable parties can be identified and held accountable for their negligent behavior.

Dallas Drunken Driver Accident Attorney Michael Grossman Can Help You Seek Fair Compensation from All Liable Parties

Identifying the liable parties in a Texas drunken driving accident can be challenging for lesser-experienced law firms, but Grossman Law Offices has twenty years of experience in cases involving dram shop causes of action. As such, we’re often able to determine whether or not an alcohol-serving establishment bears any liability in connection to a drunk driving accident. Furthermore, if no such entity was involved in a drunk driving accident, we’ll work to bring any other liable party to justice so that you can stand to be fairly compensated for your injury or loss as a result of a drunk driving accident. Contact us at 1-855-326-0000 (toll free) for a free legal consultation to learn more about your possible legal options so that you can start the recovery process. In addition to seeking compensation for your incurred damages, you will also be working to hold negligent parties accountable for their actions so that similar drunk driving accident don’t have to harm another person in the future.