Massachusetts does not “look the other way” when it comes to drunk driving offenses. Driving while under the influence (DUI) of alcohol or drugs is illegal, and convictions come with significant penalties affecting the offender’s wallet, driving privileges, and, in some cases, freedom. Of course, impaired drivers are not always the only ones to face the consequences of a drunk driving incident. Sometimes, innocent victims–pedestrians, cyclists, or other car occupants–are hurt or killed.
If you or someone you love is hurt by an impaired driver, DiBella Law will work to help you recover your losses. If your loved one is killed in a DUI accident, a Boston drunk driving accident lawyer from our team will fight for punitive damages to hold the driver accountable and get you financial justice.
Understanding Compensatory Damages
Massachusetts allows those hurt by another person’s negligence or recklessness to seek compensation–or “damages”–for their losses and suffering under its personal injury laws. Victims collect a sum of money or “damages” from the at-fault party (or the at-fault party’s insurance company, more likely). There are two types of compensatory damages victims can pursue in personal injury cases: economic and non-economic damages.
Economic damages cover your financial losses. These include medical costs, including needed future care, wages lost during recovery, potential lost wages and benefits for victims unable to return to work at all, and other costs incurred by the accident. For example, victims may need to hire others to assist with childcare or other family or household duties or pay for transportation if they can no longer drive.
Non-economic damages cover valuable losses that do not come with bills you can hold in your hand or see online. These losses are those you feel and experience through your physical pain, emotional and psychological suffering, and diminished enjoyment of life. A Boston personal injury lawyer from DiBella Law will assess your losses with extreme care, working to ensure you are fairly compensated.
Give us a call today to discover how we can assist you.
Understanding Punitive Damages and Wrongful Death
Massachusetts does not allow victims to seek punitive damages in most personal injury cases. However, for wrongful death claims, a specific category of personal injury, the State makes an exception. Sadly, many DUI accidents result in death, and surviving family members deserve to get whatever justice they can for the death of their loved ones.
Wrongful Death Damages
Under Massachusetts law, a wrongful death occurs when a person causes the death of someone else through gross negligence “or by willful, wanton, or reckless act,” and the victim had they lived, could have recovered compensatory damages for their injuries. Through a wrongful death claim, the surviving family may collect compensation for the following:
- Loss of income, “services, protection, care, assistance, society, companionship, comfort, guidance, counsel, and advice,” the deceased provided
- Funeral and burial expenses
- Punitive damages of not less than 5,000
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages also come at a financial cost to the at-fault party. However, these damages do not compensate victims for their losses. Instead, they punish the offender for their horrendous actions by requiring an additional financial payout.
Fighting for Justice for a DUI Accident
Losing a loved one to a drunk driving accident is an almost unbearable injustice. Drunk drivers have choices. They have public transportation options or can call a cab or rideshare service from just about anywhere.
Massachusetts’ laws declare driving while impaired an illegal act. The range of penalties shows the seriousness of the crime. While criminal charges may get drunk drivers off the roads for a while–or forever–and may even put them behind bars, those punishments are not personal to your loved one’s loss of life and the effects of that loss on you and your family.
The team at DiBella Law empathizes with your pain and understands your desire for justice. We share that desire and will put our resources and decades of experience into building a strong wrongful death case. Though nothing can bring your loved one back or restore the emotional losses you have sustained, holding the at-fault driver responsible for paying you punitive damages can bring a measure of justice.
We've offered crucial support and guidance to individuals who have suffered injuries, ensuring their financial and emotional well-being.
What It Takes to Secure Punitive Damages for a DUI Accident
Punitive damages are only awarded when victims receive compensatory damages. Victims can receive economic and non-economic damages without receiving punitive damages, but cannot receive punitive damages alone. Further, there is a higher burden for proving punitive damages are warranted, making it essential for victims to have a skilled wrongful death attorney in Boston on their side.
A drunk driver’s decision to drive must demonstrate “gross negligence,” showing willfulness, wantonness, or recklessness to be worthy of punitive damages. Some drunk drivers may claim they were too drunk to make an informed or “willful” decision to get behind the wheel. Others may try to claim they were controlled by addiction, powerless against their disease.
Your Boston wrongful death lawyer in Boston will work to counter these defenses, seeking evidence from every potential source depending on the specific circumstances of your case. Most likely, your attorney will:
- Review the driver’s DUI arrest and conviction history. Repeat offenses, even for those experiencing addiction, can show a lack of care or concern for others.
- Speak to witnesses who can describe the driver’s condition or those who witnessed the accident. The driver may have had “last-minute” opportunities to avoid a collision.
- Scout the location. Your attorney will discover what other transportation options or help was available to the driver.
- See if others bear responsibility under Massachusetts dram shop laws. Your attorney will work to determine if the driver was over-served and if the server knew the driver planned to get behind the wheel.
- Emphasize the extent of your losses and the effects of your loved one’s death.
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Count on DiBella Law
DUI accidents produce immeasurable devastation–ending lives violently and unnecessarily and leaving surviving loved ones to endure suffocating grief. Those who cause this trauma must be held accountable. Punitive damages tell offenders they cannot get away with what they have done.
They warn potential offenders to think before they act. To victims, they show that justice–as much as is possible–has been served. DiBella Law is here to help you fight for punitive damages.
Just call or send a message to arrange a free consultation with a compassionate–and aggressive–Boston wrongful death attorney.
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