Drunk Driver Accident Lawyers in Colorado Springs

A crash caused by an impaired driver starts as a car accident claim, with the same three-year deadline and the same insurance questions. Impairment adds two things: the possibility of punitive damages against the driver, and a possible claim against whoever sold or served the alcohol, which has a much shorter deadline.

The criminal case and your claim

The driver will usually face a criminal DUI case. That case is brought by the state to punish the driver; it does not pay your medical bills or lost income. Your injury claim is separate and runs on its own timeline. A conviction can help prove fault, and the police reports, test results, and video produced in the criminal case are often useful evidence. But you don’t have to wait for the criminal case to end before pursuing your claim, and waiting can cost you the deadline.

The criminal court may order the driver to pay restitution, but restitution covers financial losses, not pain and suffering. It isn’t a substitute for a civil claim.

Punitive damages

Colorado allows exemplary damages, its term for punitive damages, when a defendant’s conduct was willful and wanton: done with awareness of the danger and disregard for others’ safety. Choosing to drive drunk can meet that standard.

The law limits how and when they can be sought. They can’t be requested in the initial complaint, only after the case is under way and there is evidence to support them, and they generally can’t exceed the actual damages awarded. Insurance policies often don’t cover them, so whether they can be collected depends on the driver.

Claims against a bar or restaurant

Colorado’s dram shop law makes a liquor licensee, such as a bar, restaurant, or liquor store, responsible for injuries only if it willfully and knowingly served someone who was visibly intoxicated or under 21. That is a demanding standard, and it has to be proved with evidence: receipts and tab records, surveillance video, staff testimony, and the driver’s own account of the evening.

The claim must be filed within one year of the sale or service, not the three years that applies to the crash itself. If there’s any chance the driver was served before the crash, that question needs to be investigated right away.

Drugged driving

Impairment from marijuana or other drugs raises the same issues. Proving impairment is sometimes harder, because blood test results don’t map neatly onto impairment the way breath alcohol does, so witness observations and driving behavior carry more weight.

How we handle these claims

We get the criminal case file, including test results and video, and track the criminal case without depending on it. We investigate where the driver was drinking before the one-year dram shop deadline runs, identify every insurance policy, and evaluate whether punitive damages are supportable and collectable.