-ingle car accidents are often embarrassing, and it may seem difficult to defend your innocence in the matter to your insurer or to the law. This is particularly true when the accident involves allegations of drunk driving. In many cases, single-car accidents that potentially involve drunk driving are assumed to be the fault of the driver, but it is important to remember that drunk driving and causing an accident are not always the same, and in some cases should receive consideration independently of each other.
First, there’s the bad news. From most angles, claiming that a single-car accident is not the fault of the driver is very difficult if the driver was also intoxicated when the accident occurred. Even if there are other factors at play in the accident, it is sometimes difficult to make the case that these factors would have caused the accident whether or not the driver of the vehicle was sober. If the accident involves another vehicle, for instance, the actions of one driver may cause the accident regardless of the drunkenness of the other.
However, there are still circumstances in which a carefully prepared legal defense may successfully argue that the driver’s intoxication was not the cause of an accident, such as an object like a falling branch suddenly entering the roadway. It is also possible, in some instances, to challenge the assertion that the driver was under the influence of alcohol. In some cases, law enforcement may make unfair assumptions based on limited or compromised evidence, and a well-planned defense may point out that the evidence of intoxication simply does not stand up to scrutiny.
If you face a complicated mess after a single-car accident involving intoxication, take time to carefully look at the matter from all sides through the lens of the law. You may discover opportunities you did not expect to protect your rights and freedoms.
Source: FindLaw, “Single Car Accident: Am I Always at Fault?,” accessed March 30, 2018
