Oklahoma City Drunk Driving Accidents
Despite stringent laws and tough penalties, drunk driving remains a distressing national problem, with an average of 37 drunk driving accident deaths each day in the U.S. Oklahoma sees an average of 220 drunk driving fatalities each year. Intoxicated drivers not only cause serious injuries to themselves in accidents, but they often cause injuries to innocent motorists sharing the road as well.
Oklahoma drunk driving law enforcement imposes legal penalties on drunk drivers, but injury victims of drunk driving accidents also deserve justice through financial accountability. Call the Oklahoma City car accident attorneys at Dan Davis Law for the aggressive legal representation you need to recover the maximum compensation available.
Why Choose Dan Davis Law as Your Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys in Oklahoma City?
Dan Davis Law is a team of lawyers and dedicated staff members who have devoted their careers to advocating for injury victims, including those harmed by reckless, negligent drivers—particularly those injured by drivers who make the terrible decision to get behind the wheel after drinking. We offer the following advantages for your drunk driving case in Oklahoma City:
- Free consultations and no fees until we secure your settlement or win your case
- A personalized strategy from a family-owned law firm that delivers the compassionate attention of a small-town firm and the resources and team collaboration of a big-city law firm
- A history of obtaining over $400 million for our injured clients, including those harmed by drunk driving accidents in Oklahoma City
- A lead attorney with over three decades of experience obtaining justice through financial accountability for injury victims
Dealing with painful injuries and recovery time—or the prospect of never fully recovering and dealing with a disability or the death of a family member—is difficult. Undertaking a legal claim or lawsuit for compensation can feel overwhelming. The Oklahoma City personal injury attorneys at Dan Davis Law are ready to take on the process of your financial recovery so you can focus on your physical recovery and emotional well-being.
How Does Drinking Impact a Driver’s Abilities Behind the Wheel?
Like other states, Oklahoma has laws limiting legal blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.08% for adults over the age of 21. It’s illegal for minors to have any alcohol in their blood at all. Consuming alcoholic beverages impacts driving ability in significant ways—and at the same time lowers inhibitions and causes a heightened sense of confidence. Intoxication causes the following impacts on driving ability:
- Changes in vision and depth perception
- Reduces reaction time
- Causes drowsiness
- Reduces focus and concentration
- Affects hand-eye coordination
- Impacts judgment and decision-making
- Blunts alertness
- Increases carelessness and recklessness
An elevated blood alcohol level often impacts a person’s driving ability more than they think. In studies, drunk drivers display difficulty remaining in their lane, braking appropriately, and monitoring their speed. Additionally, the more a person drinks, the less likely they are to judge their level of intoxication accurately.
What Types of Drunk Driving Accidents Happen In Oklahoma?
Because drinking substantially impacts driving ability at the same time that it causes over-confidence, drunk driving accidents such as the following occur all too commonly in Oklahoma:
- Rear-end collisions
- Sideswipes from unsafe lane changes
- Angle collisions such as T-bone accidents due to failure to yield the right of way
- Head-on collisions from speeding around curves, improper passing, or wrong-way driving
- Roadway departures
- Rollovers
- Pedestrian accidents
- Bicycle accidents
Because of a drunk driver’s reduced reaction times, drunk driving accidents often occur at higher speeds than typical accidents. An intoxicated driver may not take appropriate evasive measures such as braking or swerving to avoid an accident or to minimize the impact of a collision.
Common Injuries in Drunk Driving Accidents in Oklahoma City
Injuries are often severe in drunk driving accidents because intoxication leads to reckless actions behind the wheel such as speeding, tailgating, and aggressive driving. Drunk driving accidents in Oklahoma City cause injuries such as the following:
- Traumatic brain injuries
- Fractures
- Back injuries
- Neck injuries
- Internal organ damage
- Soft-tissue injuries to shoulders, knees, ankles, and wrists
- Spinal cord injuries
- Lacerations, bruises, and abrasions
- Facial and dental trauma
- Burns
- Wrongful death
When serious injuries occur in drunk driving accidents, the damages are substantial and often impact entire families.
Even those who suffer minor injuries and can expect a full recovery are entitled to compensation for their medical costs and lost wages. Some victims of drunk driving accidents suffer far more extensive damages with life-altering implications. Common damages recovered through injury claims against drunk drivers include the following:
- Property damage
- Medical expenses
- Future medical expenses related to the injury
- Lost wages
- Future income loss
- Diminished future earning capacity due to disability
- Compensation for pain and suffering
- Compensation for other non-economic damages that apply in individual cases, such as PTSD, loss of limb, disfigurement, loss of one of the senses, or diminished quality of life/loss of enjoyment of life.
If a loved one dies in a drunk driving accident, a close family member can recover compensation for damages like funeral expenses and loss of a provider’s income and benefits.
Proving Liability for an Oklahoma Drunk Driving Accident
Under Oklahoma’s modified comparison negligence insurance system, a car accident victim may recover compensation for their damages by proving an at-fault driver’s negligence and liability. In a drunk driving accident, the driver commonly bears 100% of the fault, but insurance companies still sometimes dispute some aspects of a claim, even against a reckless drunk driver. Proving liability requires documenting all available evidence showing the following:
- That the at-fault party owed a duty of care to take reasonable measures to avoid causing injuries to others on the road
- They breached this duty through negligent, reckless, or wrongful behavior
- Their breach of duty directly caused the accident and injuries
- The injury victim suffered damages from the accident
Without a compelling case, the drunk driver’s insurance company could use common tactics to undervalue the claim, such as assigning the injury victim a portion of fault for the accident or offering a fast settlement for far less than the full value of the claim.
Call the Drunk Driving Lawyers at Dan Davis Law
No one should take on a complex legal procedure alone, especially when it’s as critical as demanding financial accountability after a drunk driving accident. Contact Dan Davis Law for the experienced legal counsel and skilled representation you and your family deserve after a devastating drunk driving accident in Oklahoma City.