San Francisco Drunk Driving Accident Attorney

Common Injuries in Drunk Driving Accidents

The violent nature of drunk driving accidents often leaves victims with catastrophic injuries that require extensive medical care and rehabilitation, sometimes for a lifetime.

Common injuries include:

• Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI): Head trauma can cause cognitive, behavioral, sensory, and physical limitations.
• Spinal Cord Injuries: These may lead to partial or complete paralysis, requiring ongoing care and equipment.
• Fractures: Broken bones can result in chronic pain or decreased mobility.
• Internal Injuries: Organ damage and internal bleeding may require emergency treatment or surgery.
• Burns and Scarring: Vehicle fires and contact injuries can cause burns, scarring, or permanent disfigurement.

Symptoms and functional limitations can continue or become clearer after emergency treatment. We document the immediate and long-term effects of the collision while you focus on healing.

Compensation After a Serious or Fatal Collision

We document the financial and personal effects of the collision so the claim accounts for both current losses and reasonably supported future needs.

Recoverable losses may include:

• Medical Expenses: Hospital care, surgery, medication, rehabilitation, assistive equipment, home support, and reasonably supported future medical care.
• Lost Income: Wages lost during recovery and diminished earning capacity when injuries limit future work.
• Pain and Suffering: Physical pain, emotional distress, disability, and loss of enjoyment of life.
• Property Damage: Vehicle repair, replacement, and other collision-related property losses.
• Wrongful Death Damages: Depending on California law and the family relationship, these may include funeral expenses, lost financial support, loss of companionship, and other legally recognized losses.

The value of a claim depends on the evidence, available coverage, applicable law, and the effect of the injuries on the person’s work and daily life. In serious cases, we examine future therapy, medical care, earning limitations, and support needs so the claim addresses long-term stability rather than only current bills.

Focused Preparation for High-Stakes Injury Claims

Our limited caseload supports partner-level involvement and the detailed preparation serious injury litigation demands. A Registered Nurse leads our intake process, allowing us to begin evaluating medical records, diagnoses, treatment, functional limitations, and future-care questions from the first review.

Our approach includes:

• Recognized Leadership: Erik L. Peterson has been selected to Super Lawyers every year since 2006, included in The Best Lawyers in America, recognized by The National Trial Lawyers: Top 100, and selected as a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America.
• Clear Communication: We explain medical and legal issues in plain language, outline likely timelines early, and keep clients informed throughout the case.
• Individual Attention: We take time to understand how the injury has changed the client’s health, family responsibilities, work, and independence.
• Trial Preparation: We prepare high-stakes claims thoroughly from the outset, whether the matter is resolved through negotiation, mediation, or trial.

Our Drunk Driving Collision Investigation

How we build your case:

• Initial Review: We assess the collision date, injuries, potential defendants, insurance coverage, and any criminal proceeding connected to the crash.
• Evidence Collection: We gather police collision reports, witness accounts, photographs, video, 911 calls, chemical-test records, vehicle data, and available body-camera or surveillance footage.
• Medical Documentation: We review treatment records and work with treating clinicians, life-care professionals, economists, crash investigators, and other contributors when the case requires their analysis.
• Insurance Negotiations: We present documented liability and damages while addressing coverage disputes, defenses, and attempts to undervalue future losses.
• Litigation When Necessary: If a fair settlement cannot be reached, we can guide clients through discovery, depositions, mediation, and possible trial.

The criminal case and civil claim can proceed on different timelines, so we monitor relevant DUI records without waiting for the criminal court to decide every issue in the injury case.

California Deadlines for Filing an Injury Claim

A personal injury lawsuit generally must be filed within two years from the date of the injury. Shorter deadlines or exceptions may apply when a government entity, a different legal theory, or another unusual circumstance is involved.

We review the collision date, possible defendants, available coverage, injury course, and government involvement before treating any deadline as conclusive.

California Dram Shop Liability in Drunk Driving Cases

Most people assume that only the drunk driver can be held responsible for a collision. California law can reach further in limited circumstances. Under Business and Professions Code section 25602.1, a person licensed or required to be licensed to sell alcohol, or another seller covered by the statute, may be held civilly liable when alcohol is furnished to an obviously intoxicated minor and that furnishing is a proximate cause of injury or death.

The injured party must generally establish that the covered provider furnished alcohol to the driver, that the driver was a minor who was obviously intoxicated at the time, and that the furnishing was a proximate cause of the victim’s injuries. Evidence such as receipts, point-of-sale records, identification records, surveillance footage from the venue, and witness accounts from staff or other patrons can help establish these elements.

A dram shop theory isn’t available merely because a driver visited a bar, restaurant, or nightclub before a collision. The statutory requirements must be supported by evidence, and the existence of a licensed provider doesn’t establish that additional insurance or compensation will be available.

California generally doesn’t impose ordinary civil liability on a licensed alcohol provider or social host for furnishing alcohol to an intoxicated adult. Separate statutory exceptions may apply in limited circumstances, so the identity and age of the person served, where the alcohol was furnished, visible signs of intoxication, and the provider’s legal status all require careful review.