Drunk drivers are a danger to themselves and everyone else on the road. According to the New Mexico Department of Transportation, more than half of all crash-related fatalities were caused by intoxicated drivers in one recent year. In fact, intoxication was six times more likely to have contributed to a traffic fatality than any other factor.
The cumulative toll of a drunk driving accident – the medical bills, painful injuries, long-term mental trauma, and more – often affects DWI accident victims for the rest of their lives. But while there’s no way to undo a drunk driving crash, New Mexico law recognizes that victims should not have to pay for the consequences of someone else’s negligent actions. If you’ve been hurt in a drunk driving accident, you could be owed compensation from the person responsible for your injuries.
New Mexico drunk driving accident lawyer Bert Parnall has more than 20 years of experience helping injured people get the money and justice they deserve. In that time, he and his team have recovered more than $250 million for his clients. They can help you seek the fair compensation you’re owed. Contact Parnall Law today for a free consultation with a car accident lawyer in Albuquerque.
Under New Mexico’s drunk driving law, any driver who registers a blood-alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08 percent or higher is presumed to be impaired and can be charged with DWI. However, drivers can also be charged with DWI if they have consumed any alcohol, as long as their ability to drive safely is affected.
For a personal injury claim, though, a drunk driver doesn’t need to have been charged with a crime In a personal injury lawsuit, you only need to prove the driver was negligent – meaning that they failed to take reasonable steps to avoid injuring you.
While you can use a criminal DWI conviction as evidence in a personal injury case, driving while impaired is generally considered a form of negligence. So even if the other driver is not charged with DWI or manages to get the charge against them dismissed, you can use other evidence to show they should be held liable for your injuries.
Albuquerque drunk driving crashes frequently leave victims with devastating injuries, including:
To successfully recover compensation from a drunk driver after an accident, you will need to provide evidence that the driver was negligent and that their negligence directly caused your injuries. You can use evidence to show this, such as:
Once you have established that the driver was negligent, you will have to show how their negligence led to your injuries. Your medical records and testimony from medical experts can help supplement your case. You will also need proof of any economic losses you have suffered, so be sure to save your medical bills, receipts, pay stubs, and other such records.
While a drunk driver is the party primarily responsible for an accident because they chose to get behind the wheel while impaired, they are not the only party who can potentially be held liable for a crash. New Mexico law recognizes that bars, liquor stores, and other vendors that sell alcohol often have some responsibility for drunk driving wrecks.
Under New Mexico’s “Dram Shop” law, a vendor can be held liable for a drunk driving accident if they sold alcohol to someone who was impaired if their impairment was reasonably apparent. Generally speaking, this means the person who was served must have exhibited obvious signs of intoxication, such as slurred speech and poor coordination. A vendor can also be liable for a drunk driving accident when they knowingly served alcohol to a minor who caused a drunk driving crash.
Though my firm has grown quickly to fill the legal needs of our community, it has retained its focus on providing excellent service to clients. I believed what sets the firm apart from others is the way we treat our clients. We are empathetic, committed, and very responsive. We are a team. I look for talented, dedicated, intelligent lawyers and staff from all over the US. We tenaciously look for the truth, we triumphantly find the truth, and we keep on fighting as a team with our clients. I realized that we live by certain values that I call the “Five Ts” – Teamwork, Talent, Truth, Tenacity and Triumph.
Bars, liquor stores, restaurants, and other businesses that sell alcohol are not the only places that can over-serve a potential drunk driver. It’s certainly not unheard of for someone to cause a drunk driving accident after consuming alcohol at a party or other social occasion.
State law recognizes that social hosts also have a responsibility to help prevent drunk driving accidents by not over-serving someone already intoxicated. If a drunk driver hits you after they leave someone’s home or another social venue, you can file a claim against the host, provided you can demonstrate the host was reckless when it came to the safety of others. This usually means providing evidence that the driver who caused the accident was noticeably intoxicated when they left the host’s premises.
Here are a few ways the Parnall Law Firm can help if you have been injured in an Albuquerque drunk driving accident:
Contact our drunk driving crash attorney at Parnall Law today for a free initial consultation to get started on your case; we are committed to helping drunk driving accident victims get the money they need to rebuild their lives.
Bertrand Russell Parnall is an Albuquerque native, salutatorian of the Class of 1988 at Albuquerque High School, and co-captain of the district football champion Bulldogs. He earned his undergraduate degree from Rice University with a double major in history and French, and his law degree from the University of New Mexico School of Law after coming home to Albuquerque.
Years of Experience: 27+ years
Justia Profile: Bert Parnall
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partner, Bertrand Russell Parnall who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a personal injury attorney.
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