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Car Accidents

Any time an injurious or fatal car accident happens, Texas law enforcement personnel will investigate what happened and who was to blame. This may involve an evaluation to determine the intoxication levels of drivers at the time of the collision.

Let’s say you were involved in a motor vehicle crash on your way to work one morning. If police have reason to suspect you or another driver is intoxicated, they’ll perform BAC tests to evaluate intoxication levels.

In the case of a fatal accident, some states have mandatory testing for blood alcohol content (BAC) following a fatal crash, but in Texas BAC testing is discretionary. As such police can decide whether or not BAC testing is appropriate.

Criminal evidence can be used in your claims for damages

When police perform BAC tests and evaluations, their primary goal is to gather evidence to convict a potentially at-fault driver of drunk driving in connection with the crash. However, injured plaintiffs can use this evidence — in addition to evidence pertaining to a criminal conviction — to support their claims against the at-fault party in civil court. Family members can also use this evidence to pursue wrongful death claims against the at-fault party.

In a civil court lawsuit, injured parties — and family members of deceased parties — will need to prove that the at-fault driver’s state of intoxication directly resulted in the accident and caused the resulting injuries or deaths. Part of making such a case involves proving that the defendant’s state of intoxication was too high to safely operate a vehicle.

Other evidence that plays an important role in proving your case

In addition to the results of criminal trial proceedings, eye-witness testimony, police reports, surveillance camera footage, expert witness evaluations and other evidence can play a very important role in a personal injury case relating to a drunk driving accident. Ultimately, a personal injury lawyer may be essential to the process of strategically organizing this information to pursue the financial compensation you deserve.

Author Photo

Michael Zimmerman

Michael was born in Houston, Texas. His education at Baylor and Texas State Universities earned him a Bachelor of Science degree in 1987. His major was in Biology with a Minor in Chemistry. He finished his legal education at Texas Southern University in 1990, earning a Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law. He was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1990.

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