Omaha Drunk Driving Accident Lawyer

Injury or death caused by a drunk driver is perhaps the most upsetting, anger-provoking of all kinds of car accident cases. The thought of an innocent victim suffering serious or fatal injury at the hands of an irresponsible individual can evoke outrage among members of the community.

At Inkelaar Law, we aggressively pursue claims against irresponsible drinkers and the bars, nightclubs, and restaurants that improperly serve them. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, drunk drivers killed nearly 10,000 people in 2011. Although the law can never replace a loved one, it does provide means of recovery for victims. Victims can sue the drunk driver under the general laws of negligence, but often the drunk driver is either uninsured or underinsured and has few, if any, assets to support a lawsuit.

Even if there is no way to pursue recovery against the drunk driver, there may be a way to pursue recovery against the person who provided the alcoholic beverage to the drunk driver. People who serve alcoholic beverages to obviously intoxicated minors may be liable under different state’s laws for damages resulting from the consumption of the alcoholic beverages.

Dram Shop Laws

In some states, a person who sells, furnishes, gives, or causes to be sold an alcoholic beverage to a habitual or common drunkard or to any obviously intoxicated person is guilty of a misdemeanor. In addition, Dram shop acts (“dram” was once a common term for “liquor”) in some states also impose liability for negligence on the sellers of alcoholic beverages for sales to persons under the legal drinking age who are obviously intoxicated. A liquor store, bar or restaurant may be responsible for any damages caused by a person’s drinking if it sold alcohol to an underage person who was obviously intoxicated.

Liability can attach to “social hosts” as well. A social host is an individual who serves alcoholic beverages in a social setting, such as a home or a party, or as where an employer serves alcoholic beverages at a company. The social host is not required to make sure that no one is consuming more alcohol than they can handle unless the host can reasonably be aware of a problem and prevent it. In some states, however the social host will not be held liable.