What To Do If You Are Hit By A Drunk Driver
July 7, 2021No matter how safe you try to be while behind the wheel. There is always going to be somebody that is driving in a way to put you and others in danger. You drive the speed limit, follow all the rules of the road and even drive defensively to avoid an accident.
Yet, there are drunk drivers on the road that act completely unpredictably. And your good driving can’t do much against somebody who is under the influence and behind the wheel.
What do you do if you are in a drunk driving accident? In this article, we will give you some tips on the first things to do.
Make Sure Everybody’s ok
The very first thing to do when involved in any accident is to make sure that everybody is alright. Tend to yourself and anybody else in your car first and then check on the other driver after seeing that there are no injuries.
You should then call an ambulance and the police. Even if it seems like there are no injuries, sometimes the effects show up later so you need to have a medical professional take a look at everybody.
The police should arrive on the scene and it is up to them to determine if the other driver was drunk or not. Before the police arrive, make sure to get the other driver’s information if possible. And then see if there were witnesses that saw what happened. They may be able to help your case if they are willing to provide statements.
Get in Contact With a Lawyer
You will definitely need some help from a qualified Houston DUI attorney if you are in Texas. There is likely to be a complicated and lengthy criminal proceeding against the drunk driver and taking everything on yourself will be very difficult.
A lawyer will be able to do some investigating by tracking down where the person had been drinking, for instance. If he or she was at a bar and was overserved then there could also be a claim against the establishment. This will involve getting statements from the staff working that night, especially the servers who provided the drinks. Even customers who may have been there and witnessed the driver get behind the wheel.
Contact Your Insurance and the Other Driver’s
Your insurance company is going to need to know about the details of the accident, of course. This is when you will learn about whether or not the other driver had insurance if you were not able to get his information at the time of the accident.
When you contact his or her insurance company they likely have already been given the police report and understand the chances of a case. They may ask you if you would be willing to settle on a dollar number to avoid the case going forward. Think about this carefully as any settlement will take away your right to compensation if anything were to come up later on.
