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Drunk Driving Accident Attorney

TAL TLO Hero

Tim Tate

Claire Tate Rehmet

Chris Rehmet

$13,000,000

Gross Recovery

Pedestrian Accident

Wrongful Death

$10,750,000

Gross Recovery

Motorcycle Wreck

Head Injury

$9,500,000

Gross Recovery

Defective Product

Brain Injury

$6,500,000

Gross Recovery

Workplace Accident

Head Injury

Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys

Tate Accident Law is committed to holding drunk drivers accountable for the wrecks they cause on our public roadways. Our Texas  drunk driving accident attorneys  are passionate about suing drunk drivers for the accidents and injures they cause. Our attorneys volunteer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) speak monthly at MADD functions about the civil liability which drunk driver’s incur when they cause a wreck and hurt or kill someone.

DUI Victim Attorney

Attorney Christopher Rehmet is a former Assistant District Attorney who began his career prosecuting drunk drivers. Since then he has regularly sued drunk drivers to recover damages for the victims. We know the law and the evidence surrounding a personal injury case against a drunk driver. Our Texas drunk driving accident lawyers use that knowledge to make the drunk, his insurance carrier, and the bar or restaurant that overserved the drunk pay for the damages they cause.

Our lawyers know that driving under the influence is a major cause of injury and fatality. DUI is extensively studied because it is the cause of so many injuries and deaths on our public roads. The statistics show that DUI is a problem for everyone in our society. Some of the numbers are startling. These stats show the extent of the dangers:

  • 01 Drunk driving accounts for 25% of car crash fatalities across our nation.
  • 02Texas is the 5th worst state in the nation when it comes to the number of people driving under the influence.
  • 03A driver with a blood alcohol content of .10 is at least 5 times more likely to crash.
  • 04A drunk driver with a BAC of .180 is 50 times more likely to cause an accident.
  • 05The average drunk driver drives approximately 80 times under the influence before their first arrest.

The laws in Texas reflect this danger and expose the drunk driver who injures others to a large liability. The fact is that drunk drivers who cause an accident and injure someone owe their victims a lot of money.  A DUI accident lawyer who  is familiar with the evidence, statistics, and laws surrounding drunk driving accidents can place a large amount of pressure on the drunk driver, their insurance carrier, and sometimes the bar or restaurant that over-served the drunk to fully compensate the victim for the damages suffered.  

Is a drunk driver grossly negligent when they cause a car wreck and hurt others? And why is that important?

Yes, drunk drivers who cause wrecks and injure others are grossly negligent and our attorneys allege gross negligence in every case against where the other driver is intoxicated. 

Our Texas drunk driving lawyers know that drunk driving isn’t just negligent, it’s gross negligence. In Texas, a person is grossly negligent when they engage in an act they know carries a high risk of serious injury or death to others. DUI fits the definition of gross negligence and our attorneys allege gross negligence every time we sue a drunk driver for an accident. Gross negligence is important because it exposes the drunk driver who causes personal injuries to punitive damages.

Punitive damages are damages included by a jury in their verdict to punish the other person for knowingly exposing others to risk of serious injury and death. They can be very powerful. Our attorneys know that Texas juries have a history of including large punitive damages awards against drunk drivers, even in smaller personal injury cases.  For example, a jury in San Antonio included $1,000,000 of punitive damages against a drunk driver who caused a collision where the injured person only incurred about $15,000 in medical bills.

When suing a drunk driver, there are certain caps and limits to punitive damages, but there is an exception for “intoxication assault”.  Intoxication assault happens when a drunk driver causes serious bodily injury to another person. This exception removes any caps on punitive damages that would otherwise apply to a drunk driver who causes a wreck. Asserting this exception in a lawsuit against a drunk driver has some pros and cons, but the attorneys at Tate Rehmet Law Office can guide you through the decision.

How do your Texas drunk driving accident lawyers use accident statistics when you sue an intoxicated driver for causing injury to others?

Statistics about drunk driving accidents and injuries are important evidence. They show the jury that your case is an opportunity for the jury to return a verdict that deters drunk diving and can make our streets safer for everyone.

Statistics compiled by the CDC and others show that driving under the influence dramatically increases the likelihood of a crash and how many people are injured and killed every year as a result. Our lawyers use drunk driving statistics in two ways.

Areas We Serve

We have offices in McKinney, Texas and Sherman, TX. We serve all of Texas and Oklahoma.

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FIrst, as the plaintiff’s attorney we must prove by clear and convincing evidence that driving under the influence is gross negligence. The statistics allow us to show that driving under the influence carries a great risk of serious injury and death.

Second, the statistics show the jury that drunk driving accidents are a problem for all of society, and can affect anyone, including them. The statistics allow us to argue that drunk driving accidents are about much more than you, it’s about them and their families, too.

In order to present these statistics to the judge and jury, our drunk driving accident lawyers work with scientists known as epidemiologists who are experts with regard to traumatic injury statistics. These experts are usually university professors with a Ph.D. who will testify about the statistics and the injury and loss of life caused by DUI every year.

What is blood alcohol content (BAC) and how does my lawyer use it in a lawsuit for injury or death against the drunk driver?

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is a measure of the proportion of alcohol found in a blood sample. As your lawyer, we hire an expert called a toxicologist to review the BAC and testify about what it means. For example, the toxicologist may perform retrograde extrapolation.

Alcohol has a unique property among drugs because the intoxicating effects of alcohol occur when it is present in the body, and the intoxicating effects go away when the alcohol is no longer in the body. This is why our criminal laws make it a crime to drive with a certain BAC (.08 in most states including Texas).

Toxicologists are experts in how drugs, including alcohol, affect the human body. Our attorneys often hire a toxicologist in a drunk driving accident case to testify about the drunk driver’s BAC and how alcohol was a contributing factor to the wreck and the resulting injuries or death.

The toxicologist can perform a calculation called retrograde extrapolation. Retrograde extrapolation shows what the intoxicated driver’s BAC was at the time of the wreck, as opposed to the time of the blood draw.

For example, an intoxicated driver causes a collision injuring the other driver at 1:00 am on a Saturday. The police are dispatched and perform their investigation. The police might not get the drunk driver to a phlebotomist (the person who draws blood) for two hours.

 

Blood alcohol content chart

By 3:00 am the drunk has metabolized a certain amount of alcohol. This means the intoxicated driver’s BAC at 3:00 am is going to be lower than it was at the time of the accident. The toxicologist, however, knows the human body metabolizes alcohol at a uniform and predictable rate. That toxicologist can do the math and add back in the alcohol that was metabolized during the two hours that lapsed between the time of the wreck and the time of the blood draw.

This shows how truely intoxicated the drunk was when they caused the wreck and the resultant injuries.

Personal injury attorneys handling cases against drunk drivers can use the toxicologist in other ways that help your injury case.

What evidence besides the BAC do your drunk driving accident lawyers use in a civil case against a drunk driver who caused a collision?

The police DUI investigation usually contains relevant evidence that can be used against the intoxicated driver after an accident. In addition, our lawyers may hire an accident reconstructionist to download the electronic control module and collect other data to help reconstruct how the drunk driver caused the collision and injuries.

The police investigation of the drunk driving accident contains important evidence which we can use against the drunk driver in a civil lawsuit, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.

The police investigation files usually contain body and dash cam footage that show the officer interacting with the drunk driver and the scene of the collision. This footage can be important evidence which your lawyer can use in your lawsuit to recover for your personal injuries. The investigating officer will usually ask the drunk driver questions about where they were drinking and how much. The drunk driver’s responses are admissions which can be used by your attorney.

Drinking and Driving

 

Some drunks look and sound intoxicated. Juries have little tolerance for intoxicated drivers who cause wrecks and are belligerent. Footage that shows these types of behaviors can be very valuable in a civil lawsuit against the intoxicated driver.

In addition, the investigating officer will ask the drunk driver to perform roadside sobriety manbevers. Body cam footage showing that the drunk driver cannot walk a line or stand on one leg is powerful evidence which your lawyer can use in your injury case.

Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, our attorneys will download the Electronic Control Module (ECM) as evidence in a serious personal injury or wrongful death case against an intoxicated driver. The ECM is a “black box” that records data such as speed, foot pedal pressure, steer input, and, in some newer models, a short video, when a wreck happens.

Lawyers can hire an expert called an accident reconstructionist to download the data after a wreck. This evidence can be used to show the drunk driver’s erratic driving before causing a collision and injuries. Our Texas drunk driving lawyers have found this to be very useful, especially when the drunk doesn’t look too intoxicated on the police body cam footage.

Breathalyzer Drunk Driving

Can a drunk driver who causes a wreck plead the Fifth Amendment in a lawsuit?

Yes, so long as there is reasonable expectation that the statement exposes the drunk to criminal prosecution. Once the drunk driver pleads guilty, they generally cannot plead the Fifth.

A drunk driver who causes a wreck and injures you can only plead the Fifth Amendment when they have a reasonable basis to fear that their statements might be used against them in a criminal proceeding. If the drunk driver has pleaded guilty to DUI or another criminal charge and those guilty pleas end the criminal case, then they generally cannot plead the Fifth.

Sometimes our DUI/DWI accident lawyers will sue and depose the drunk driver in an injury case while the drunk driver is still being prosecuted for driving under the influence. This forces the intoxicated driver to plead the Fifth in our civil lawsuit. Pleading the Fifth is admissible in your civil lawsuit against the drunk driver. When a drunk driver pleads the Fifth, it shows that the intoxicated driver is only concerned with their own well being and not the people they injured in a car wreck. Our attorneys believe that pleading the Fifth actually helps our injury claim against the drunk.

How is a case of drunk driving different from driving under the influence of drugs?

Driving under the influence of drugs presents different issues from driving under the influence of alcohol. Various drugs affect the body differently than alcohol and drug markers remain in the body after the intoxicating effects have stopped.

Markers of drug use, such a THC in marijuana, remain in the human body for some time after the intoxicating effects have worn off. This makes a case of driving under the influence of drugs more difficult to prove than a case of driving under the influence of alcohol. A positive test for drugs is evidence, but that evidence needs to be supported by other evidence to show intoxication.

Our DWI accident attorneys vigorously pursue personal injury cases against drivers who cause wrecks under the influence of drugs and understand that a different approach is needed. We rely more on eyewitness testimony to establish the driver was exhibiting the intoxicating effects of the drug in question. Our attorneys then hire a toxicologist to help prove that the driver who caused the wreck was under the influence when they caused the car accident.

Can a drunk driver declare bankruptcy after they cause injury or death to others?

DSC
The debts incurred when a drunk driver causes a collision, personal injury, or damage to property cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. These sections of the bankruptcy code are another point of pressure for the drunk driver in a personal injury case. Often the insurance defense attorney is not aware of these laws and threatens bankruptcy if we pursue the case aggressively. Our attorneys usually direct the drunk driver’s lawyer to the appropriate sections of the Bankruptcy code.

DUI Victim Attorney

Attorney Christopher Rehmet is a former Assistant District Attorney who began his career prosecuting drunk drivers. Since then he has regularly sued drunk drivers to recover damages for the victims. We know the law and the evidence surrounding a personal injury case against a drunk driver. Our lawyers use that knowledge to make the drunk, his insurance carrier, and the bar or restaurant that overserved the drunk pay for the damages they cause.

Our lawyers know that driving under the influence is a major cause of injury and fatality. DUI is extensively studied because it is the cause of so many injuries and deaths on our public roads. The statistics show that DUI is a problem for everyone in our society. Some of the numbers are startling. These stats show the extent of the dangers:

  • 01 Drunk driving accounts for 25% of car crash fatalities across our nation.
  • 02Texas is the 5th worst state in the nation when it comes to the number of people driving under the influence.
  • 03A driver with a blood alcohol content of .10 is at least 5 times more likely to crash.
  • 04A drunk driver with a BAC of .180 is 50 times more likely to cause an accident.
  • 05The average drunk driver drives approximately 80 times under the influence before their first arrest.

The laws in Texas reflect this danger and expose the drunk driver who injures others to a large liability. The fact is that drunk drivers who cause an accident and injure someone owe their victims a lot of money.  A lawyer who  is familiar with the evidence, statistics, and laws surrounding drunk driving accidents can place a large amount of pressure on the drunk driver, their insurance carrier, and sometimes the bar or restaurant that over-served the drunk to fully compensate the victim for the damages suffered.  

Yes, drunk drivers who cause wrecks and injure others are grossly negligent and our attorneys allege gross negligence in every case against where the other driver is intoxicated.

Our Texas drunk driving accident lawyers know that driving while intoxicated  isn’t just negligent, it’s gross negligence. In Texas, a person is grossly negligent when they engage in an act they know carries a high risk of serious injury or death to others. DUI fits the definition of gross negligence and our attorneys allege gross negligence every time we sue a drunk driver for an injuries. Gross negligence is important because it exposes the driver who causes personal injuries to punitive damages.

Punitive damages are damages included by a jury in their verdict to punish the other person for knowingly exposing others to risk of serious injury and death. They can be very powerful. Our attorneys know that Texas juries have a history of including large punitive damages awards against drunk drivers, even in smaller personal injury cases. For example, a jury in San Antonio included $1,000,000 of punitive damages against a drunk driver who caused a collision where the injured person only incurred about $15,000 in medical bills.

When suing a drunk driver, there are certain caps and limits to punitive damages, but there is an exception for “intoxication assault”. Intoxication assault happens when a drunk driver causes serious bodily injury to another person. This exception removes any caps on punitive damages that would otherwise apply to a drunk driver who causes a wreck. Asserting this exception in a lawsuit against a drunk driver has some pros and cons, but the attorneys at Tate Accident Law can guide you through the decision.

Statistics about drunk driving accidents and injuries are important evidence. They show the jury that your case is an opportunity for the jury to return a verdict that deters drunk diving and can make our streets safer for everyone.

Statistics compiled by the CDC and others show that driving under the influence dramatically increases the likelihood of a crash and how many people are injured and killed every year as a result. Our lawyers use drunk driving statistics in two ways.

FIrst, as the plaintiff’s attorney we must prove by clear and convincing evidence that driving under the influence is gross negligence. The statistics allow us to show that driving under the influence carries a great risk of serious injury and death.

Second, the statistics show the jury that drunk driving accidents are a problem for all of society, and can affect anyone, including them. The statistics allow us to argue that drunk driving accidents are about much more than you, it’s about them and their families, too.

In order to present these statistics to the judge and jury, our lawyers work with scientists known as epidemiologists who are experts with regard to traumatic injury statistics. These experts are usually university professors with a Ph.D. who will testify about the statistics and the injury and loss of life caused by DUI every year.

Blood Alcohol Content (BAC) is a measure of the proportion of alcohol found in a blood sample. As your lawyer, we hire an expert called a toxicologist to review the BAC and testify about what it means. For example, the toxicologist may perform retrograde extrapolation.

Alcohol has a unique property among drugs because the intoxicating effects of alcohol occur when it is present in the body, and the intoxicating effects go away when the alcohol is no longer in the body. This is why our criminal laws make it a crime to drive with a certain BAC (.08 in most states including Texas).

Toxicologists are experts in how drugs, including alcohol, affect the human body. Our attorneys often hire a toxicologist in a drunk driving accident case to testify about the drunk driver’s BAC and how alcohol was a contributing factor to the wreck and the resulting injuries or death.

The toxicologist can perform a calculation called retrograde extrapolation. Retrograde extrapolation shows what the intoxicated driver’s BAC was at the time of the wreck, as opposed to the time of the blood draw.

For example, an intoxicated driver causes a collision injuring the other driver at 1:00 am on a Saturday. The police are dispatched and perform their investigation. The police might not get the drunk driver to a phlebotomist (the person who draws blood) for two hours.

By 3:00 am the drunk has metabolized a certain amount of alcohol. This means the intoxicated driver’s BAC at 3:00 am is going to be lower than it was at the time of the accident. The toxicologist, however, knows the human body metabolizes alcohol at a uniform and predictable rate. That toxicologist can do the math and add back in the alcohol that was metabolized during the two hours that lapsed between the time of the wreck and the time of the blood draw.

This shows how truely intoxicated the drunk was when they caused the wreck and the resultant injuries.

Personal injury attorneys handling cases against drunk drivers can use the toxicologist in other ways that help your injury case.

The police DUI investigation usually contains relevant evidence that can be used against the intoxicated driver after an accident. In addition, our drunk driving accident lawyers may hire an accident reconstructionist to download the electronic control module and collect other data to help reconstruct how the drunk driver caused the collision and injuries.

The police investigation of the drunk driving accident contains important evidence which we can use against the intoxicated driver in a civil lawsuit, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.

The police investigation files usually contain body and dash cam footage that show the officer interacting with the driver and the scene of the collision. This footage can be important evidence which your lawyer can use in your lawsuit to recover for your personal injuries. The investigating officer will usually ask the drunk driver questions about where they were drinking and how much. The drunk driver’s responses are admissions which can be used by your attorney.

Some drunks look and sound intoxicated. Juries have little tolerance for intoxicated drivers who cause wrecks and are belligerent. Footage that shows these types of behaviors can be very valuable in a civil lawsuit against the intoxicated driver.

In addition, the investigating officer will ask the drunk driver to perform roadside sobriety tests. Body cam footage showing that the drunk driver cannot walk a line or stand on one leg is powerful evidence which your lawyer can use in your injury case.

Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, our DUI accident attorneys will download the Electronic Control Module (ECM) as evidence in a serious injury or wrongful death case against an intoxicated driver. The ECM is a “black box” that records data such as speed, foot pedal pressure, steer input, and, in some newer models, a short video, when a wreck happens.

Drunk driving collision  lawyers can hire an expert called an accident reconstructionist to download the data after a wreck. This evidence can be used to show the drunk driver’s erratic driving before causing a collision and injuries. Our lawyers have found this to be very useful, especially when the drunk doesn’t look too intoxicated on the police body cam footage.

Yes, so long as there is reasonable expectation that the statement exposes the drunk to criminal prosecution. Once the drunk driver pleads guilty, they generally cannot plead the Fifth.

A drunk driver who causes a wreck and injures to you can only plead the Fifth Amendment when they have a reasonable basis to fear that their statements might be used against them in a criminal proceeding. If the drunk driver has pleaded guilty to DUI, DWI or another criminal charge and those guilty pleas end the criminal case, then they generally cannot plead the Fifth.

Sometimes our lawyers will sue and depose the drunk driver in an injury case while the drunk driver is still being prosecuted for driving under the influence. This forces the intoxicated driver to plead the Fifth in our civil lawsuit. Pleading the Fifth is admissible in your civil lawsuit against the drunk driver. When a drunk driver pleads the Fifth, it shows that the intoxicated driver is only concerned with their own well being and not the people they injured in a car wreck. Our attorneys believe that pleading the Fifth actually helps our injury claim against the drunk.

Driving under the influence of drugs presents different issues from driving under the influence of alcohol. Various drugs affect the body differently than alcohol and drug markers remain in the body after the intoxicating effects have stopped.

Markers of drug use, such a THC in marijuana, remain in the human body for some time after the intoxicating effects have worn off. This makes a case of driving under the influence of drugs more difficult to prove than a case of driving under the influence of alcohol. A positive test for drugs is evidence, but that evidence needs to be supported by other evidence to show intoxication.

Our DUI collision attorneys vigorously pursue personal injury cases against drivers who cause wrecks under the influence of drugs and understand that a different approach is needed. We rely more on eyewitness testimony to establish the driver was exhibiting the intoxicating effects of the drug in question. Our attorneys then hire a toxicologist to help prove that the driver who caused the wreck was under the influence when they caused the car accident.

The debts incurred when a drunk driver causes a collision, personal injury, or damage to property cannot be discharged in a bankruptcy. These sections of the bankruptcy code are another point of pressure for the drunk driver in a personal injury case. Often the insurance defense attorney is not aware of these laws and threatens bankruptcy if we pursue the case aggressively. Our attorneys usually direct the drunk driver’s lawyer to the appropriate sections of the Bankruptcy code.

MEET OUR Personal Injury Attorneys

Chris Rehmet
Claire Tate Rehmet
Tim Tate
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