Intoxicated and Impaired Driving Accident

Being hit by a drunk or drug-impaired driver is different from an ordinary car accident, both in how badly people get hurt and in how the law treats the claim. Impaired drivers tend to hit at full speed, at night, and without braking. Florida law responds with tools that are not available in a typical negligence case, including uncapped punitive damages. If an intoxicated driver injured you or killed someone in your family, here is what you need to know about how these claims work in Florida.

Florida’s DUI law in plain terms

Under section 316.193, a person commits DUI by driving or being in actual physical control of a vehicle while their normal faculties are impaired by alcohol, a chemical substance or a controlled substance, or while their blood or breath alcohol level is 0.08 or higher. A driver can be convicted either way: a BAC below 0.08 does not help a driver who was visibly impaired, and a driver at 0.08 or above is guilty even if they insist they felt fine. “Intoxicated” and “impaired” are often used interchangeably, but the legal question in Florida is impairment of normal faculties, which covers prescription drugs, marijuana and other substances as well as alcohol. Penalties increase sharply at 0.15 and when the DUI causes serious bodily injury or death.

The criminal case is not your case

After a DUI crash there are two separate proceedings. The State Attorney prosecutes the driver in criminal court, where the goal is punishment and the standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. You are a witness in that case, not a party, and while the court may order restitution, it rarely comes close to covering medical bills, lost income and the harm done to your life. Your civil claim is separate. It is brought by you, it is decided on the lower preponderance of the evidence standard, and it is where your compensation comes from.

The criminal case still matters. A guilty verdict or a guilty plea can be used as evidence in the civil case, and the prosecution’s file, including the arrest affidavit, breath or blood test results, body camera footage and field sobriety video, is a ready-made evidence package. A plea of no contest, which is common in DUI cases, generally cannot be used as an admission, so your lawyer must be prepared to prove impairment independently. Do not wait for the criminal case to end before protecting your civil claim. Florida gives you two years from the crash to file a negligence lawsuit, and criminal cases can take longer than that.

Punitive damages: why drunk driving claims are worth more

In most car accident cases, you can recover only compensatory damages: medical expenses, lost wages, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering. Punitive damages, which exist to punish and deter, require proof of intentional misconduct or gross negligence under section 768.72. Driving while impaired is the textbook example of gross negligence, and Florida courts routinely allow punitive damages claims against drunk drivers.

Florida normally caps punitive damages at three times compensatory damages or $500,000, whichever is greater. Section 768.736 removes that cap entirely for a defendant who was impaired or had a blood alcohol level of 0.08 or higher at the time of the crash. There is a practical catch: most auto insurance policies do not cover punitive damages, so the award may have to be collected from the driver personally. In practice, the threat of an uncapped, uninsured punitive verdict is powerful leverage to make the insurer pay its full policy limits quickly.

Who else may be responsible

• Bars and restaurants. Florida’s dram shop law, section 768.125, is narrow. A business that serves alcohol is liable only if it willfully and unlawfully served a minor, or knowingly served a person habitually addicted to alcohol. Proving habitual addiction usually requires evidence that the establishment knew the customer, such as bar tabs, staff testimony and prior incidents.
• Social hosts. A private host who serves adults generally is not liable in Florida, but a host who serves minors can be.
• Vehicle owners. Under the dangerous instrumentality doctrine, the owner who lent the car to the drunk driver is vicariously liable, subject to statutory limits.
• Employers. If the driver was working at the time, the employer is responsible for the employee’s negligence, and may be directly liable for negligent hiring or retention if it knew about prior DUIs.
• Your own insurer. Many drunk drivers carry minimal or no bodily injury coverage. Uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage on your own policy may be the largest source of recovery, so check your declarations page early.

The evidence that wins these cases

Breath and blood results, the arrest affidavit, the crash report, body camera and dash camera footage from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, Florida Highway Patrol or the city police, 911 recordings, surveillance video from the bar or the intersection, credit card receipts showing how much was served, witness statements about the driver’s behavior, and the event data recorder in the driver’s car all matter. Much of this is kept for a limited time. A preservation letter should go to the driver’s insurer, the bar and the vehicle owner within days.

If you had been drinking too

Florida’s alcohol defense statute, section 768.36, bars recovery by a plaintiff who was impaired or at 0.08 or above and who, as a result, was more than 50 percent at fault for their own injuries. A passenger who had been drinking, or a pedestrian who had a few drinks before being hit in a crosswalk, is not barred simply for having consumed alcohol; the defense requires that your impairment actually caused most of the harm. Ordinary comparative negligence rules otherwise apply, reducing your recovery by your share of fault and barring it only above 50 percent.

What to do now

Get medical care within 14 days so your PIP benefits are not lost. Get the crash report and the case number for the criminal matter. Do not give a recorded statement to the driver’s insurer, and do not accept an early offer; impaired-driver insurers often move fast to settle before punitive exposure is on the table. Then talk to a lawyer who handles these cases.

The Injury Advocates is a Plantation-based personal injury firm serving Fort Lauderdale, Broward County and South Florida. Call (754) 812-8444 or 833-DARFOOR, or send us a message. The consultation is free and you owe no fees or costs unless we recover for you. Learn more about our car accident practice and our wrongful death practice.