How does a driver’s blood alcohol concentration factor into a civil lawsuit against them in Chicago Illinois?
Chicago, IL – CBS local news for Chicago has reported that two police officers have been hospitalized after a drunk driver struck their vehicle in April of 2019.
Drunk driver hits police officers on routine patrol
Surveillance video shows that early on a Friday morning at around 1:30 am in Roscoe Village, the suspect’s Honda blew through a red light at a high rate of speed and struck the SUV that the two Chicago Police Officers were driving. The accident happened at the intersection of Ashland and Belmont, and a third vehicle was also affected due to the impact of the initial crash. One of the officers was experiencing limb pain while the other was dealing with generalized pain all over the body. Both were taken to a local hospital in stable condition. The driver of the third vehicle sustained minor injuries and refused medical treatment, while the drunk driver of the Honda was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The 19th District for the police posted on their twitter account that the suspect had a blood alcohol concentration of .205 and appeared to be seriously injured after the crash. The legal limit in Illinois as in most other states is .08, meaning this suspect was about two and one half times above the limit to be considered legally drunk.
High blood alcohol concentrations and lawsuits
While the victims in this case were police officers, plenty of people of all walks of life are affected by drunk drivers every day. A large metro area such as Chicago deals with hundreds or thousands of accidents involving impaired drivers each year, and some of them are going to be highly intoxicated when they cause a crash.
A chemical test of breath, blood, or urine taken by police to determine a driver’s blood alcohol concentration is mainly used for the purpose of the criminal investigation against the defendant. There may be enhanced criminal penalties such as a longer license suspension or larger fine in a case against a drunk driver, but in a civil lawsuit this is essentially just more evidence that they should not have been driving and acted in a reckless manner. This satisfies the crucial element in a civil negligence lawsuit that shows a driver breached their duty of care on the road.
Each individual case may have a different outcome depending on how severely a jury wants to punish a defendant for being excessively drunk while driving, or the defendant may want to settle in order to avoid a worse outcome at trial. However, there is no exact correlation to any particular outcome as set by statutes in the criminal law.
A high blood alcohol concentration may also factor into damages in a civil lawsuit. A judge can allow a plaintiff to try to collect punitive damages for this kind of inappropriate behavior. Punitive damages tend to be large amounts meant to punish a defendant for exceptionally bad behavior that goes beyond all bounds of decency. These can be awarded in addition to any damages to pay for things like medical expenses, emotional and physical suffering, or missed time from work.
Speak with an experienced attorney after a drunk driving accident today
To get the right kind of help after a drunk driving incident, it is important to speak with a specialist lawyer as soon as possible after an accident.
For more information about how to proceed with a lawsuit against a drunk driver, contact the Dinizulu Law Group. They have offices conveniently located in downtown Chicago.
