Beaumont Drugged Driving Accident Lawyer

If you or a loved one have been injured in a Beaumont car accident caused by drugged driving, you might be entitled to compensation. A driver under the influence of drugs, whether illicit or prescription, is extremely dangerous.

Their negligence can have serious consequences, and accidents caused by drugged drivers are sadly common. Drugabuse.gov reports that the Governor’s Highway Safety Association conducted a study in 2016 that concludes that 43.6 percent of fatally injured drivers tested positive for drugs.

The team of experienced lawyers at [firm name] will give you the best possible legal representation while they work to hold the impaired driver accountable. We can help you obtain fair compensation for your injuries.

Call us at [firm number] for a free consultation with a Beaumont drugged driving accident lawyer so that we can discuss the circumstances of your case.

Why You Need a Lawyer

DrugAbuse.gov reports that the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) in 2018 found that 20.5 million people over the age of 16 drove under the influence of alcohol that year. Everyone knows drunk driving is wrong, but some people refuse to apply the same logic to drugs.

Some 12.6 million drove under the influence of illicit drugs. Drugged driving is an act of negligence, so if you were injured in a crash by a drugged driver, you might be entitled to damages. In order to receive fair compensation, you’ll need an experienced legal team to navigate the complexities of a personal injury claim or lawsuit.

It can be difficult to prove that a driver was under the influence during a crash. Your legal team may need a toxicology report or blood test as proof. Some legal drugs can stay in a person’s system for a long time after use, making it difficult to determine exactly when the drug was consumed, and whether or not it played a part in the crash.

Toxicology tests can also take weeks to produce results. Your legal team can source drug tests and toxicology reports for you, as well as other important evidence. We’ll get all available video footage, witness statements, police reports, 911 recordings, and more to document the facts of your case and prove your claim.

Why Choose Us

Our legal team at [firm name] has a stellar track record and decades of experience between them. Drugged driving is an act of recklessness and negligence. Under Texas state law, you have a right to hold them responsible for their behavior.

If you or a loved one were injured in a drugged driving accident, we’ll work hard to make the other driver accountable and financially liable for your crash.

Insurance companies aim to settle their cases quickly with as little expense to themselves as possible. We’ll stand up to these companies on your behalf and aggressively pursue your maximum settlement.

Difficulties of Proving Drugged Driving

There’s no easy roadside drug test for drivers yet. The Breathalyzer test produces immediate results that are admissible in court, but there’s no equivalent test for drugged drivers.

Instead, drugged drivers have to be transported to a separate location to undergo testing, which requires the police officer to obtain a warrant. Many drugged drivers pair their drug use with alcohol. Sometimes police find enough alcohol in the blood for a DUI charge, so they don’t bother to test for drugs in addition.

There isn’t the same clear legal limit to measure what an acceptable level of drugs is in a driver’s system. Even medical professionals can disagree on the limit. That’s why you need an experienced legal team on your side to make a thorough argument that the driver was negligent.

If alcohol was a factor in your drugged driving crash, we may use a dual approach and argue that the driver was negligent for driving under the influence of both drugs and alcohol. They’re equally negligent actions under the law.

The Effects of Drugs on Drivers

Different drugs cause different reactions in the brain, all of which can affect driving safety.

Marijuana is the drug most commonly found in drivers’ blood tests after crashes. It can slow reflexes and reaction time, impair perception of time and space, and adversely affect coordination. The use of alcohol with marijuana is common and can compound its effects, often causing drivers to weave across lanes.

Drivers under the influence of cocaine or methamphetamines can drive aggressively and recklessly. Opioids and drugs in the benzodiazepine category can cause marked drowsiness and impair judgment. Drugabuse.gov reports that in 2016, 19.7% of drivers who drove while under the influence tested positive for some type of opioid. All of these drugs are extremely dangerous when combined with fast-moving vehicles.

Because prescription drugs are legal and assigned to patients by their doctor, users often assume that they are safe, when that may be far from the case. Many anti-depressants or anti-anxiety medicines have dangerous sedative effects for drivers.

Warning labels must state ‘be careful when operating a motor vehicle or heavy machinery,’ or ‘may cause drowsiness,’ but often neither doctors nor the medication inserts describe the risks adequately. Even over-the-counter cold and allergy medications come with potentially dangerous side effects for drivers.

It’s not always the abuse of drugs that causes driver impairment and crashes. Even if a driver takes their prescription medication exactly as they should, their brain chemistry can still be altered in a way that damages their reflexes, judgment, thinking, awareness, and balance.

What Kinds of Compensation Could I Be Entitled To?

Drugged drivers stand to face both criminal and civil penalties. You can file a personal injury claim with their insurer or a civil suit, or perhaps both, depending on the details of your crash.

In these actions, you could recover damages to cover medical treatments (both emergency and ongoing), lost wages, and pain and suffering. Your lawyer can also pursue punitive damages, which are designed to punish the negligent driver and prevent them from making the same mistake again.

Contact a Drugged Driving Attorney in Beaumont

If a drugged driver caused harm to you or a loved one, you need our experienced attorneys on your side. You might be owed significant compensation.

Call [firm number] or schedule a free consultation to discuss the details of your case.