There's no such thing as a good DWI accident, but the result of one tends to be far worse when the drunk driver is in a commercial vehicle like a delivery truck or 18-wheeler. Over the years we've spoken with countless people who were hurt or lost someone dear to them in a crash with an impaired trucker, and they often want to know: Who can they hold accountable for the life-changing damage they suffered?

Answer: When a truck driver causes a DWI accident, the injured victim(s) may be able to sue the driver, his employer, his alcohol provider, and certain other third parties, depending on the circumstances of the accident.

As you might imagine, a case against any or all of these defendants isn't as simple as just pointing fingers and demanding compensation. Let's look closer at each party, why they might be responsible for a wreck, and what obstacles a victim might face when holding them accountable.

Defendants in a DWI Truck Accident

The Driver

Unlike passenger motorists who can have a BAC of up to .07%, the risk of catastrophic commercial accident damage is so great that truck drivers are prohibited by statute from driving with any significant quantity of alcohol in their system. When a commercial driver ignores the rules and drunkenly hurts or kills people in an accident, it's only right that consequences follow.

Obstacle: Proving any driver was intoxicated by alcohol is generally a matter of testing their blood, breath, or urine for its presence.

If intoxication is suspected by law enforcement, in most cases they will collect samples at the scene for lab tests. If for some reason that doesn't happen, though, federal regulations require a truck driver's employer to conduct those tests in the aftermath of a commercial accident. In either case, there should be test results available some time after the wreck. The trick may be obtaining them: If police do their own toxicology, then generally you can obtain those results with an open records request if you or a loved one were injured. If the company conducts the test, however, then you most likely will need a subpoena.

The Trucking Company

When a company's employee negligently hurts or kills someone during the performance of their job, the law says the company itself is vicariously liable for some of that damage under the legal concept of respondeat superior, or "let the master answer." If liability is shared between the two, though, why does it matter if the trucking company also made mistakes? Because juries tend to punish businesses who should know better, and fail in their duty to protect the public, more harshly than they would an individual who simply chooses to do something reckless. Ensuring the company pays for its own carelessness as well as its employee's can be beneficial to victims and to the public at large.

Obstacle: After their employee causes a crash, a trucking company is likely to dispute and downplay its own involvement. They typically investigate the wreck for other factors to blame (bad weather, road conditions, traffic, the victim, etc), but if they can't find a good scapegoat they may try to just throw the driver under the bus instead. Over the years we've seen plenty of companies argue they couldn't have seen their employee's poor choice coming, and if it "wasn't foreseeable" then they shouldn't be responsible for failing to prevent it.

On its surface that may seem reasonable, but it's rarely true. Think about it: Most trained professionals don't just decide on a whim to drunkenly take their 40-ton trucks for a spin. A trucker willing to put himself and everyone else at risk that way has often shown an established pattern of substance abuse that his employer could and should have noticed. If investigations show the company somehow missed the problem or just knowingly ignored it, any excuses they make about foreseeability dissolve.

The Alcohol Provider

Clearly any drunk driver must be held responsible for their choice to operate under the influence, but there's also the matter of where that "influence" came from. If a licensed alcohol provider like a bar, nightclub, restaurant, or store sells drinks to an obviously intoxicated customer, that business violates Texas dram shop law. I wrote a comprehensive guide to the ins and outs of dram shop cases, but the most relevant point here is that a bar which negligently over-serves its customers may be liable for harm those customers cause while intoxicated.

Obstacle: Proving dram shop liability can get a little tricky. For example, even if lab tests confirm that an at-fault driver was dangerously intoxicated, that doesn't necessarily mean a business over-served him.

It's always necessary to track down as much evidence as possible of what really happened. The key piece of evidence and the starting point of most investigations is the driver's BAC. In many cases a high BAC followed by an auto accident is a sign that the driver was over-served somewhere before hitting the road. Other important evidence includes credit card receipts, business security footage, staff and eyewitness accounts, the driver's social media activity, etc.

Arguably most DWI investigations should include efforts to find out where the alcohol came from, but in our experience that isn't high up law enforcement's priority list.

Other Third Parties

Fault isn't always clear-cut after a crash, and it may extend beyond the parties we've already mentioned. Some unusual factors might truly be out of anyone's hands, but others could implicate third parties like additional drivers, maintenance vendors, and vehicle manufacturers. If those or other parties had roles in an accident, the nature and degree of their contribution must be determined. Then, if needed, they should be held responsible for the damage they helped cause.

Obstacle: Most crash investigations don't go beyond the immediate crash scene, which means tracking down a liable third party isn't always straightforward.

A comprehensive investigation is usually the best way to identify third-party contributors to a crash. If another vehicle was involved, for instance, eyewitness interviews and/or traffic or phone video footage might be needed to determine exactly how. If a defective part or manufacturing error triggered the wreck, forensic examination of the malfunctioning vehicle would probably be necessary to find out what broke and why.

Grossman Law Can Help

A careful investigation can also show what didn't happen, which is more helpful than it might sound. Experience has taught us that the more potential wrongdoers there are, the more likely those wrongdoers are to point fingers at one another and try to escape responsibility for their own actions.

Our view is that everyone who contributes to a drunk 18-wheeler accident deserves to be held accountable for their part. Justice demands no less.

If you were hurt or lost a loved on in an accident with an 18-wheeler, including one where the truck driver was suspected of DWI, Grossman Law is here to help. Contact us any time for a free and confidential consultation.