Texas has very strict laws regarding drunk driving. If you’re involved in an accident where a drunk does physical damage to your or your vehicle, however, these laws really don’t do you much good. These laws are designed to provide criminal punishments as discouragements against people driving drunk. Of course, discouraging other drunk drivers really doesn’t do anything for someone who has already been hit by one. Here are some things to consider about lawsuits.
1: Lawsuits Are for You
The point of being able to sue someone who caused you real physical harm is to make sure that you don’t end up paying for all the damage yourself. A lawsuit may result in a settlement or a jury award that could provide you with enough money to tackle your medical expenses, offset lost wages and more. This is a big reason why people file lawsuits against negligent drivers, whether they were drunk or not when they caused the accident.
2: Lawsuits Can Be Done on Contingency
A contingency agreement with a DFW car wreck lawyer works in your favor. A contingency agreement means that you don’t have to pay the attorney unless they manage to win your claim in court. If you don’t win, you don’t pay. This allows people to pursue their lawsuits without the fear of being made financially destitute if they cannot afford the legal fees if they lose.
3: Wrongful Death Lawsuits
If someone took a loved one from you because they were drunk behind the wheel, you can sometimes get relief from the financial hardships this causes by filing a lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit may result in you winning substantial amounts of compensation, though there’s no guarantee of this. Still, the financial compensation you stand to win could be used to pay for the loss of a contributing member of your family. It won’t make up for the loss in its entirety, of course, but a settlement or jury award can help a family with the financial shocks of losing someone.
A car accident lawyer in Dallas can give you good information about filing a lawsuit over a drunk driving incident. If someone was behind the wheel and they were intoxicated when they caused other people harm, they certainly deserve to be held accountable for that. A lawsuit is one way of doing it and it’s the only way that directly benefits the person the drunk driver injured.