In most cases, the responding officer’s report will document the other driver’s intoxication, and they will be charged with DUI or felony DUI if there was great bodily injury or death.

If they are convicted of DUI or felony DUI, their conviction will be admissible in your DUI wreck trial. If they are not convicted, we may still be able to prove their intoxication through chemical tests and witness testimony.

When a drunk driver causes a collision, they are responsible for the damage that they caused, and you are entitled to:

• Medical expenses – both current and future expenses, including hospital bills, doctor bills, emergency transport, medications, medical equipment, physical rehab, and all medical costs that were a result of the accident,
• Lost wages – lost income due to the injuries and loss of future income when there is a lost earning capacity due to disability caused by the crash,
• Property damage – to the motorcycle or any other property that was damaged,
• Future care – including the costs of long-term care when needed,
• Disfigurement and scarring,
• Funeral expenses when there is a wrongful death,
• Pain and suffering,
• Emotional distress,
• Loss of society and companionship,
• Loss of consortium, and
• Punitive damages –there is no cap on punitive damages in SC when the at-fault driver was convicted of a felony related to the crash or when they were intoxicated at the time of the crash.

If the other driver is charged with felony DUI, there is a very good chance they will serve prison time once they have been convicted.

We will monitor the developments in their criminal case to keep you informed. You have the right to be informed by their prosecutor at every step of the proceeding, the solicitor’s office should not make any decisions in their criminal case without first consulting you, and you have the right to speak to the court at the sentencing hearing in the criminal case.

We handle all types of DUI crash cases for our clients, including wrongful death and survival actions that we file on behalf of a DUI accident victim’s family.

If your loved one was killed by a drunk driver, we will meet with the personal representative of the estate to advise you on your next steps, answer your questions, and help you to get the maximum compensation allowable under SC law and to hold the drunk driver accountable for their actions.

If the drunk driver did not have insurance, we will look for all possible sources of recovery which may include your own uninsured and underinsured policies, any umbrella policies that may cover the incident, and any third parties who may be liable for the crash.

A jury can award punitive damages any time a defendant’s conduct was willful, wanton, or reckless – which includes a person’s conduct in choosing to drive while intoxicated. In SC, there are no caps on punitive damages when the defendant is 1) convicted of a felony offense related to the crash (like felony DUI) or 2) intoxicated on alcohol or drugs at the time of the crash.