Drugged Driving Accidents

Drugs have been wrecking our society for decades. Though we have spent countless amounts of time and money trying to combat addiction, it seems the problem only gets worse. As more people fall victim, it seems that everyone has one friend or family member that is battling for their lives.

What sometimes gets lost is that drugs often cause damage to more than those who are addicted. This is especially true when a drug abuser gets behind the wheel of a car. A driver on drugs, whether it’s a prescription medication or an illicit drug, can cause serious, if not fatal, injuries if involved in a collision.

These cases can be complicated. While it might seem obvious at the time that the other driver is on something, proving it can be a different story. It’s easy if the police show up, find illegal drugs, and arrest the other driver. It’s more difficult if the person is on a prescribed medication and is not breaking the law by taking it. In those cases, it’s our job to prove that the person should not have been driving on the medication.

The reality is that in many drugged driving cases, the at fault driver is taken into custody by the police. So there should be a police report, but our police are overworked and can miss details that are necessary for your potential lawsuit against the at fault driver. That is why it is so crucial to write everything down after the accident.

Your memory will not serve you well and sometimes it will take months, often years, to settle your case with the drugged driver’s insurance company. So, it is crucial to have everything in writing that you can refer to later.

We often get questions regarding whether the driver’s inebriated state will help their case and make it worth more. Like everything else in the law, the answer is complicated. There are three parts to an automobile accident: liability, damages (injures), and causation.

The driver’s drugged state goes to liability. In all car crash cases, we ask “was the other driver negligent?” If the other driver was speeding and loses control of his/her car and strikes you, that’s usually enough to establish negligence. But, the negligence is not just their speeding. The other driver breached their duty owed to you when they decided to do drugs before they went out and drove.

There are ways we can use the drug consumption to make sure you received the most compensation possible. If the case goes to trial, many jurors empathize with people who cause car accidents. They think that accidents happen, and that compensating injured Plaintiffs makes their insurance rates go up. But, a skilled attorney can help show the jury not only was the person speeding; the driver was also on drugs.

At Marcotte Law Firm, we have seen every type of automobile crash there is. However, in situations where the accident is caused by a drugged driver, the case requires a special amount of expertise.

Witnesses will have to be interviewed. There are special occasions where we could get the driver’s medical records to show their drug use. The lawyer will have to investigate the police and toxicology reports. Once you have all those things, the next question is, what do to do with them? All of these things are complicated and take time and resources to use effectively.

At Marcotte Law Firm, we know how to utilize this evidence to make sure you are compensated fairly for your injuries. Call us today to set up a free consultation at (978) 458 – 1229.