Anyone involved in a traffic accident with a drunk driver that suffered injuries often wonders what to do next. Because accidents are usually sudden and without warning, the accident itself is only the beginning of the physical and emotional problems that injury victims face. Accidents that involve a DUI in Virginia remain a serious problem. According to the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, 4,430 injuries and 248 fatalities were attributed to drunk driving accidents in 2017.

In any car accident case, it’s in your best interests to call the police right away to document the incident. Once the police arrive, they will gather information and take witness statements. Make sure you tell the police if you think the accident was caused by the other driver being drunk or under the influence. Police reports often play an important role in establishing a claim. They include information like blood alcohol level that helps demonstrate and show evidence that the driver was impaired. This information can be critical to your claim, especially if you seek punitive damages.

In any car crash injury case, getting immediate medical help to document your symptoms and treatment is essential to your injury claim. In filing any injury claim you must be able to prove your injured. The results of your diagnostic tests, medical records, doctors notes, and medical bills are all important ways of documenting that an injury occurred. Any delay in getting treatment can allow insurance companies to argue against your injury claim.

Under Virginia law, someone is considered over the legal limit if their blood alcohol content (BAC) is over .08, and Injury victims of drunk driving accidents may have multiple claims available to them, including punitive damages if the drivers BAC exceeds .15. In addition to any claims against the driver, other party’s may be responsible. If they were driving a company vehicle at the time of the accident their employer may have exposure.

After an dui accident, insurance companies will often attempt to reach out to the injured party to collect information from them. It is important that you don’t speak with them until you contact your attorney, who will deal with the insurance company for you. Because we don’t always know right away how badly someone is injured, the insurance companies’ initial offers often don’t fully compensate the injured party for their injuries. Different types of injuries can take time to develop, especially spine and traumatic brain injuries.

Before speaking with any insurance company, it’s always best to have an experienced  Lynchburg accident injury attorney on your side. We have the knowledge, skills and resources to deal with any insurance company. We have a proven track record, and extensive knowledge of Virginia’s personal injury laws. We are committed to holding drunk drivers accountable, and always aggressively seek the maximum compensation for our client’s injuries, medical bills and damages. This allows our clients to focus on the most important thing which is their recovery.

At Randall J. Trost, P.C., we have helped drunk driving accident victims throughout the state of Virginia since 1982. It’s up to everyone to help keep drunk drivers off the road. Our law firm aggressively seeks to punish drunk drivers that cause accident injuries by seeking the maximum compensation for our clients, and to try to put them back to where they were before the accident. By doing this, we hope that our efforts will keep others from drinking and driving in the future.