Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

Stricter laws, stronger enforcement, and widespread public awareness campaigns have made a notable dent in the rate of drunk driving in the United States, with the volume of alcohol-related automotive fatalities decreasing by 44 percent since 1985. But while these trends are encouraging, drunk driving remains a serious problem. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that about 37 Americans die in drunk driving accidents each day – the equivalent of one death every 39 minutes. Moreover, intoxicated driving fatalities went up by 14 percent in 2021, a disturbing development after so many decades of uninterrupted decline.

Sadly, Indiana has not been spared the scourge of drunk driving. Despite the best efforts of Indiana law enforcement agencies, who make one DUI arrest every 11.98 hours, 124 Hoosiers were still killed in alcohol-impaired collisions in 2020, representing 14 percent of traffic fatalities in the state. Even the survivors of drunk driving accidents can be left to deal with punishing injuries that could stretch their finances to the breaking point.

While compensation may be available if you have been hurt in a drunk driving accident, success is not guaranteed, which is why many place their trust in the tenacious Indiana car accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, who have been fighting for the innocent victims of negligence since 1998.

You can schedule a no-cost case review with a seasoned Indiana drunk driving accident lawyer by calling or texting us at (317) 472-3333, chatting with us online, or filling out our contact form now.

Why Drunk Driving Is So Dangerous

You may have been warned about drinking and driving from an early age, maybe even when you were too young to sit in the front seat of the family car, much less drive it. But has anybody ever explained to you why drunk driving is so dangerous?

The reason society is so tough on intoxication behind the wheel is that alcohol can rob you of basically every ability necessary to operate a motor vehicle, including clear thinking and muscle coordination.

And the more alcohol your body absorbs, the more it can negatively impact your central nervous system, though even small quantities can make it difficult to function. While the legal threshold for intoxication in Indiana is a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent, studies have revealed sharp drops in visual acuity, attention span, steering skills, and emergency responsiveness in drivers with significantly lower BACs. In fact, the year 2021 claimed 2,266 lives in domestic alcohol-related crashes involving drivers with a BAC between .01 to .07 percent. No matter what you may have been led to believe, the only safe number of drinks to have before climbing into the driver’s seat is no drinks at all, since anything above that amount could lead to tragedy.

Unfortunately, you only have control over your own actions. Even if you sensibly abstain from drinking alcohol whenever it is your turn to drive, drivers who share the road with you may not share your good judgment. But if you find yourself suffering the consequences of others’ misdeeds, our dedicated Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers will be ready to go after the ones who harmed you.

Who Is Responsible for an Indiana Drunk Driving Accident?

Depending on the circumstances, multiple parties could be responsible for an Indiana drunk driving accident.

In addition to the drunk driver and the owner of his or her vehicle (if different from the driver), anyone “furnishing the alcoholic beverage” to the driver might be liable under Indiana’s Dram Shop Act.

First passed in 1986, the Act details the potential civil liability of those who provide alcohol to someone whose intoxication goes on to cause injury. Dram Shop claims are typically brought over drunk driving accidents, though other accidental injuries and even assaults could be grounds for a case.

Unlike comparable laws in many other states, Indiana’s Dram Shop Act permits litigation against both commercial businesses and private citizens who “barter, deliver, sell, exchange, provide, or give away” alcohol contributing to an injury. As such, the possible defendants could range from bars and restaurants to so-called “social hosts” serving cocktails to guests in their homes – assuming that certain conditions are met.

Specifically, the plaintiff must show that:

The party furnishing the alcohol had “actual knowledge” that the party being served was intoxicated. To meet this standard, the plaintiff may have to demonstrate that the defendant actually knew that the individual in question was drunk, not simply that the defendant should have known. To that end, evidence that the intoxicated individual slurred his or her speech, had trouble walking or standing, exhibited hostile or overly emotional behavior, or passed out could be invaluable.
The intoxication of the party being served was a “proximate cause” of any resulting injuries. Generally, alcohol may be considered the proximate cause of injuries inflicted at the location where the alcohol was furnished or injuries inflicted shortly after it was furnished.

If both of these elements can be established, a case against the alcohol furnishers may be viable, on top of claims against the car’s driver and/or its owner, among others.

Given how many defendants there might be, it is imperative that you identify and pursue all of them within the time allotted by law, known as the Statute of Limitations. The Statute for Indiana drunk driving accidents is two years in most instances, though the window can be narrower in cases against the government, with further requirements that might have to be satisfied.

Failure to file a lawsuit or otherwise achieve a resolution before the Statute expires could forever bar you from full recovery – an oversight that will not occur under the watchful eyes of Hensley’s Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers.

What Our Indiana Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys Can Do

Drunk driving accidents can be physically devastating, fiscally ruinous, and fundamentally infuriating – infuriating because they were the completely avoidable outcomes of the carelessness of others, who prioritized their own immediate gratification over the well-being of their neighbors.

You need attorneys who can support you through this trying period and channel your frustration towards more productive ends. You need the Indiana drunk driving accident attorneys at Hensley Legal Group, who are committed to ensuring that everyone enjoys equal access to justice.

If you choose to hire Hensley, we will launch a comprehensive investigation into your drunk driving accident and everybody who may be at fault for it, acting swiftly to amass the essential building blocks for your case, such as:

Police reports
Citations and dispositions
Receipts
Eyewitness statements
Security videos
Streetlight and dash cam footage
Black box data
Crash scene photos
Cellphone records
Driver histories
Accident reconstruction and forensic analysis

If proof of wrongdoing exists, our Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers will work tirelessly to uncover it.

Get Compensated for the Totality of Your Losses

Once we have put together a rock-solid case against all of the defendants, we will negotiate with their insurance companies for a settlement that compensates you for the totality of your losses, including:

Medical bills
Lost income
Pain and suffering
Psychological and emotional trauma
Diminished quality of living
Restricted mobility
Scarring and disfigurement
Loss of consortium
Punitive and wrongful death damages (if applicable)

And if we do not receive an offer that is worthy of your case, we are more than willing to go to trial for a verdict that is, unlike many of our competitors, who seldom see the inside of a courtroom.

You Won’t Pay Until We Win

You may be reluctant to agree to more expenditures when you can least afford them, but you should know that our firm works on a contingency basis. This means that you won’t have to pay us anything until we win your case.

A single reckless act may have turned your world upside down, but Hensley’s Indiana drunk driving accident attorneys will do whatever it takes to set things right again.

Reach Out to Our Indiana Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

Hensley Legal Group has been advocating for the everyday people of Indiana for more than 25 years. If you are struggling to get your life back to normal, reach out to our Indiana drunk driving accident lawyers to explore your legal options.

Please call or text us at (317) 472-3333, chat with us online, or fill out our contact form today to arrange a free consultation with an accomplished Indiana drunk driving accident attorney.