If a negligent, drunk driver causes a crash, taking quick action is vital. The first thing you should do is make sure you get all the medical attention needed. Next, you should contact an Oklahoma drunk driving accident lawyer so you can get started on your case as soon as possible.
By working with a lawyer quickly, you can build negligence cases to hold drunk drivers accountable for covering damages through settlements or civil trials. Knowledgeable lawyers help with complex personal injury laws to strategically calculate current and ongoing accident costs. You can increase the potential success of your case by working with an attorney.
Potential Damages to Claim
Various damages may factor into drunk driving accident injury claims, including property losses, medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, and wrongful death damages. Vehicle damage, hospital bills, and time away from jobs generate concrete monetary impacts documented in strengthening cases. Less tangible harms involving trauma, grief, and reduced mobility bring emotional pleas before juries should trial become necessary.
Billed expenses from drunk driving wrecks can stack up rapidly, especially with lasting health impacts. Long hospitalizations, surgeries, medications, accessibility equipment, and home care assistance can be highly expensive. A car accident attorney in Oklahoma can incorporate present and foreseeable lifetime costs of injury claims, maximizing compensation when possible.
Emotional trauma like PTSD is something that you have to live with. Working with an experienced personal injury attorney is crucial to fight for maximum compensation to cover all drunk driving damages. Working towards potential compensation recovery for necessary treatments, damaged property, and lost livelihoods can help you restore stability.
Our Team Is Here To Assist You Every Step Of The Way.
SPEAK TO AN ATTORNEY TODAYWhen Making a Wrongful Death Claim for a Lost Loved One
Losing someone to a drunk driving crash can cause devastating personal loss and also exacerbate financial stress. Wrongful death claims provide families the ability to cover funeral costs, medical bills, and counseling to address grief and hold negligent intoxicated motorists financially responsible. While money never replaces beloved family members, serving justice can help with healing.
Sudden deaths may eliminate household income or promised college financing straining family budgets to extremes. Though civil cases cannot mend broken hearts, they may deliver resources financially, especially when that person was the sole earner in the family. This means it can stabilize futures that honor memories through accountability.
When a drunk driver takes the life of someone’s loved one, the grief of losing that person can be overwhelming. On top of mourning their death, often the family is suddenly left without the financial support the deceased provided. Wrongful death legal claims pursue financial damages from the drunk driver to provide resources covering costs that otherwise would severely burden grieving families.
What to Do If the Driver Is Uninsured
If the at-fault uninsured drunk driver lacks sufficient insurance in Oklahoma, check if your own policy includes Uninsured Motorist (UM) coverage. This protects policyholders if hit by uninsured drivers, covering collision costs like medical bills or car repairs up to specified limits. Notify your insurer as soon as you can to see if you have this coverage if you seem to be stuck in this situation.
Underinsured Motorist (UIM) coverage can help fill gaps if the other motorist’s insurance does not fully cover all damages. This kicks in when policy limits fall short of the value of an injury claim. UIM expands available payouts victims rightfully deserve to receive.
Both UM and UIM coverages require victims to demonstrate the uninsured driver’s fault for causing accidents before funds disburse. Police reports, eyewitness statements, and crash site analysis prove liability strengthen claims show losses deserve compensation. Though uninsured drunk drivers try evading accountability, multiple avenues to potentially offer some measure of financial justice.
Statute of Limitations for Car Accidents
Oklahoma has a two-year statute of limitations for filing personal injury claims from vehicle accidents. This gives you two years from the date of their crash to get legal filings submitted pursuing compensation, whether through insurance settlements or a lawsuit. You must make sure you meet that timeframe.
The limit also applies to wrongful death claims from families losing loved ones in fatal Oklahoma collisions during the past 24-month timeframe. You would end up losing all future rights and receiving compensation. It is vital to take action immediately, beginning action against the parties involved by the rapidly approaching strict legal deadline.
However, if any minors prove they were involved in an accident when incidents occurred during that time period, an expanded period allows filing claims. This exists until shortly after reaching legal adulthood. Working with an attorney can help you avoid any confusion and determine if you still have time to file.
Types of Proof You Should Have Even If Your Police Report Establishes Fault
Even with clearly written police reports explaining fault, additional evidence is needed to strengthen claims. Comprehensive documentation like medical records, crash analysis findings, and eyewitness testimonies supplement mandatory reports to demonstrate harm suffered. Multiple types of proof boost credibility in case questions later arise.
Photo evidence, for instance, provides demonstrations of the conditions and physical damages sustained. Pictures establish indisputable clarity showing the truth of what happened. Expert test results can help to further determine crash forces and speeds when considering the severity.
Ongoing medical charts further validate injury claims. They document treated symptoms, determine disability levels, and itemize therapeutic rehabilitation costs tied directly to the incident. These help account for lifetime care needs or initial care.
Work with an Oklahoma Car Accident Attorney to Seek Justice
Being hurt because of a drunk driving accident can cause significant physical, emotional, and financial setbacks. Working with a lawyer gives you the best potential chance at securing the maximum compensation under the law to address your losses. Do not leave money on the table or struggle through complex legal processes alone.
Our team has helped drunk driving accident victims recover compensation over decades of in-depth personal injury case experience. We know how to build strong claims proving drunk driver negligence. Reach out for a free consultation so we can start advocating for your rights immediately.
