Roseville Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Drunk driving accidents often lead to significant injuries and property damage for those involved, but insurance carriers can make it hard to recover compensation. At Rosenthal Law, our Roseville drunk driving accident attorneys have the resources needed to handle complex vehicle accident claims, and we know what it takes to stand up to aggressive insurance carriers in order to recover the compensation that our clients deserve.

Roseville Drunk Driving Accident Attorney

Why Should I Hire a Roseville Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer?

At Rosenthal Law, our team has more than 25 years of experience helping vehicle accident victims in the Roseville area recover compensation for their losses.
We have a thorough understanding of drunk driving and personal injury laws in California, and we thoroughly prepare every claim for trial to ensure our clients are treated fairly.
Our team handles Roseville drunk driving accident cases on a contingency fee basis, which means clients will never pay legal fees until after we recover the compensation they need.

Steps To Take Right After a Drunk Driving Accident

There are some steps to take immediately after and in the days and weeks following a drunk driving accident that can help ensure the integrity of your claim and help maximize your chance of recovering compensation. Even though all of these steps may not need to occur in this exact order, we encourage you to get through this list as much as possible.

Make sure the police get involved. Involving the police immediately after a drunk driving accident is crucial for several reasons. Firstly, it ensures that an official report is filed, which can be invaluable for insurance claims and potential legal actions. Secondly, police involvement is necessary for the documentation of evidence at the scene, which might prove critical in establishing fault. Moreover, if the other driver is under the influence, police can administer sobriety tests, providing official documentation of impairment, which is vital for any subsequent legal proceedings.
Seek medical treatment immediately. After a drunk driving collision, seeking medical attention is paramount, not only for your health and well-being but also for insurance purposes and potential injury lawsuits. Immediate medical evaluation can identify injuries that might not be immediately apparent due to adrenaline. Documenting your injuries soon after the accident can provide a strong link between the collision and your injuries, which is essential for compensation claims.
Preserve as much evidence as possible. Preserving evidence after a drunk driving accident can significantly impact the outcome of insurance claims and civil legal actions. Take photographs of the accident scene, any injuries, and damage to your vehicle. Collect contact information from witnesses and keep records of medical treatments and expenses. This evidence can help build a strong case for your claim.
Contact a drunk driving accident lawyer. Consulting with a lawyer who specializes in drunk driving accidents can provide you with an understanding of your legal rights and options. An experienced attorney can navigate the complexities of the legal system, deal with insurance companies, and ensure you receive fair compensation for your injuries, damages, and any other losses.
Stay off social media. It is advisable to limit your social media activity after a drunk driving accident. Posting details about the accident, your injuries, or your legal case can be detrimental. Insurance companies and defense attorneys might use your social media posts to undermine your claim, arguing that your injuries are not as severe as claimed or that you bear some fault for the accident.
Continue medical treatment. Following through with prescribed medical treatments and attending all follow-up appointments is critical after a drunk driving accident. Continuous medical care not only aids in your recovery but also provides ongoing documentation of your injuries and response to treatment. This continuity is crucial for substantiating the extent and impact of your injuries in your legal case or insurance claim.

What Evidence Should I Collect From The Accident?

There may be various types of evidence you can gather from the accident scene, but the reality is that this may not always be possible. If the scene is unsafe in any way or if you feel you are in danger, do not try to get evidence from the scene of the incident. Let law enforcement officials and emergency personnel do their job of investigating the incident and cleaning the scene up.

However, if you are able to do so, some of the most valuable evidence you can get at the scene of the incident comes through what you can do with your phone. You can take photographs of everything you see, including vehicle damage, debris or skid marks, traffic and weather patterns, injuries, and more.

In addition to photographs, you can use your phone to take video surveillance. Also look around to see if there are other video cameras on nearby buildings or homes that may have captured footage of the incident.

Lastly, you can get the names and contact information of any person at the scene of the incident who may have seen what happened and who can give a statement on your behalf. This can include drivers and passengers in other vehicles involved in the incident as well as bystanders who may have stopped to render aid.

Am I Entitled to Compensation After a Drunk Driving Accident?

Drunk driving accident victims in Roseville may be able to recover a range of types of compensation if their claim against the alleged intoxicated driver is successful. At Rosenthal Law, our Roseville accident lawyers work diligently to recover both economic and non-economic damages on behalf of every client we assist.

Economic Damages

Economic damages for a drunk driving accident claim include the calculable expenses victims endure as a result of the incident. Our team will use the receipts and bills that a victim receives to help adequately calculate:

Emergency medical expenses
All ongoing medical costs
Property damage expenses
Lost wages or loss of future earning potential
Physical therapy and rehabilitation
Prescription medications or medical devices

Non-economic Damages

Non-economic damages for these claims involve a range of more immeasurable expenses that a victim is likely to endure as a result of the incident. These are often referred to as pain and suffering damages, and the types of payment a client receives are used to compensate their:

Physical pain and suffering losses
Emotional and psychological pain and suffering
Loss of enjoyment of life

How is Fault Determined in a Roseville Drunk Driving Accident?

Determining fault for a Roseville drunk driving accident involves having an extensive investigation into the incident. In addition to the evidence we discussed gathering from the scene of the incident, there will certainly be other types of evidence your attorney works to obtain to help prove liability. For a drunk driving accident case, this includes:

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Any citations issued to the driver
Proof of a DUI arrest and information pertaining to the outcome of the case
The driving history of the alleged impaired driver
Vehicle black box data
Mobile device data
Possible surveillance footage from other locations where the driver was before the incident occurred (bars, convenience stores, etc.)

Determining fault after a drunk driving accident not only involves highlighting the impairment of the other driver but also definitively showing that the other driver’s actions caused the incident. The reality is that simply being impaired and being involved in an accident is not enough to prove that the impaired driver caused the accident. Sometimes, a person being impaired actually has nothing to do with the incident in question, but it can muddy the waters when it comes to liability.

A skilled drunk driving accident lawyer in Roseville can help examine the facts of the case and essentially follow the investigation where it goes. No two drunk driving accident claims are exactly alike, so there is no boilerplate template for these incidents. Your lawyer knows this and will proceed appropriately for your situation.

How Can California’s Comparative Negligence Laws Impact My Case?

In the state of California, there is a “pure comparative negligence” system in place. Under this type of system, individuals are able to recover compensation even if they share responsibility for causing their own injuries. In fact, under a pure comparative negligence system, individuals can secure compensation even if they are up to 99% responsible for causing their injuries.

However, there’s a major caveat to every comparative negligence system, and that is that the individual will receive less compensation depending on their percentage of fault. For example, we can use simplistic numbers and a theoretical case to explain how this looks. Suppose an individual sustains injuries in a T-bone collision caused by a speeding driver during dusk, the time when it is not completely dark but not bright out either – but bright enough to have headlights on.

Let us also suppose that during the course of the investigation, it is determined that the crash victim did not have their own headlights on and, thus, shares 30% of the responsibility for the incident. If the victim sustained $100,000 worth of medical bills, they would receive $70,000 instead of the full $100,000 to account for their percentage of fault.

How Long Do I Have to File a Claim?

Drunk driving accident victims in Roseville have a limited amount of time to file their claims in court. The California personal injury statute of limitations is two years from the date an injury occurs. This gives drunk driving accident victims a two-year window with which to file a lawsuit against the alleged negligent driver, or they will be unable to recover the compensation they are entitled to.

Directionally, victims must keep insurance carrier deadlines in mind. Any insurance carriers involved in these cases will have reporting deadlines that must be adhered to as well. We strongly encourage you to reach out to an attorney for help with filing these claims on time.

How Long Does a Drunk Driving Claim Take to Settle?

There is no set amount of time for how quickly a drunk driving accident claim in Roseville, California, will take to resolve. In most situations, individuals are able to receive compensation through a settlement with an insurance carrier. However, even the most straightforward drunk driving accident claims could take months to resolve, and that is only if there is no dispute over liability or other aspects of the claim. The insurance carrier could, and most likely will, drag the claim out as long as possible. Sometimes, insurance settlements take more than a year to occur.

In the event the other party does not offer a fair settlement, you may have to file a lawsuit in civil court against the alleged negligent driver. When a claim gets into the civil court system, this can significantly extend the time frame of the claim. It can take years for a personal injury lawsuit to resolve, but these cases are often settled during the discovery process or a court-ordered mediation.

If you have any questions about how long it will take for your claim to resolve, we encourage you to ask your attorney. Based on their experience, they may be able to give you a general estimate.

Contact Our Roseville Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Today

If you or somebody you love has been injured in an accident caused by the negligence of a drunk driver in the Roseville area, turn to the team at Rosenthal Law for assistance immediately. We want to investigate your claim and begin communication with the insurance carriers as soon as possible. Our goal is to recover the compensation you need to get through this, and we have no problem taking your case to trial if necessary.

When you need a Roseville drunk driving accident lawyer, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling us at (916) 774-7200.