Drunk Driving Accident Victims
Injured in a Drunk Driving Accident in Utah?
Hold the Impaired Driver Accountable
Being injured by an impaired driver can turn your life upside down in an instant. Along with the physical pain and emotional trauma, you may be facing uncertainty about what comes next. You deserve support and accountability, not another fight when you’re already trying to heal.
Utah Code § 41-6a-502 makes it illegal to drive with a .05 blood or breath alcohol concentration or higher, or while too impaired by alcohol or drugs to drive safely. If an impaired driver hurt you, their insurer will fight paying. Caldwell Filler & Grayson builds the claim against the driver, their insurer, and any bar that kept serving them.
Why Hire a Drunk Driving Accident Attorney?
The state will prosecute the driver, but a criminal case does not pay your medical bills or replace your lost income. Your civil claim does. A DUI conviction is strong evidence, but civil cases use a lower standard of proof, so you can still recover if charges are reduced, delayed, or never filed.
Your claim can also go beyond a typical crash claim. Utah allows punitive damages in impaired driving cases, and a bar or restaurant that kept serving the driver may share liability. The insurer will not point out either one. We find every party who can be held responsible and build the case against each of them.
Drunk Driving Accident Attorneys
Drunk driving claims often have more than one defendant and more than one source of recovery: the driver, the driver’s insurer, and sometimes the business that served them. Each comes with its own rules and deadlines, and we track all of them from the start.
Cory brings broad litigation experience to every case, with a background spanning personal injury, family law, real estate, construction defect, and constitutional law.
How Much Does a Drunk Driving Accident Attorney Cost?
No attorney’s fee unless we win. Like all of our personal injury cases, drunk driving accident claims are handled on contingency, so you only pay if we win.
Drunk Driving Accidents We Handle
Impaired driving crashes take many forms, and each one points to different evidence. We handle claims involving:
- Drivers over the .05 limit, or impaired by marijuana, prescription medication, or other drugs
- Wrong-way and high-speed crashes caused by an impaired driver
- Repeat offenders and drivers with suspended licenses
- Bars, restaurants, and other businesses that served a driver who was apparently intoxicated
- Underage drivers who were served alcohol by a business
- Impaired drivers with no insurance or too little coverage
- Passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists hit by an impaired driver
- Families who lost someone to a drunk driver
What Compensation Can I Recover After a Drunk Driving Accident?
Depending on the facts of your case, your claim may include:
- Medical expenses, including future care
- Lost wages, reduced earning capacity, and vehicle repair or replacement
- Pain and suffering
- Punitive damages against the driver, though Utah sends half of any punitive award above $50,000 to the state
- Damages from a bar or restaurant that served the driver, which are capped and cannot include punitive damages
- Wrongful death damages for the family when a crash is fatal, which must be claimed within two years
Utah’s no-fault PIP coverage pays your first medical bills, but rarely the real cost of a serious injury.
Injured in a Drunk Driving Accident in Utah?
Consultations are Free!
Get medical care, report the crash, and talk to an attorney before you give the driver’s insurer a recorded statement. Then let us move on to the evidence. We secure the police report and test results, and we track down bar tabs, surveillance video, and witnesses before they are lost or recorded over.
Call Us:
Tooele: (435) 830-7577
Email Us:
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Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to wait for the criminal case to finish?
No. Your civil claim runs on its own track and can move forward while the criminal case is pending. Waiting can cost you evidence, and some deadlines, like the two-year deadline for a claim against a bar, keep running either way.
Can I sue the bar that served the driver?
Possibly. Under Utah’s dram shop law (Utah Code § 32B-15-201), a business can be liable if it served someone who was under 21, apparently intoxicated, or known to be under the influence. These claims must be filed within two years, half the usual deadline, so act quickly
What are punitive damages, and can I get them?
Punitive damages punish especially dangerous conduct, on top of what it takes to cover your losses. Most Utah cases require clear and convincing proof of willful or knowingly reckless conduct, but that higher bar does not apply when the driver was impaired in violation of Utah’s DUI law.
Will restitution in the criminal case affect my claim?
It can help it. A restitution order for your out-of-pocket losses can serve as presumptive proof of those losses in your civil case, and payments in one case are credited against the other (Utah Code § 77-38b-303). Restitution does not cover pain and suffering, which is why your civil claim still matters.
What if the driver was impaired by drugs, not alcohol?
Your claim works the same way. Utah Code § 41-6a-502 covers impairment by alcohol, drugs, or both, and blood test results showing drug impairment support your civil claim just as a breath test would.