Omaha Drunk Driving Accident Lawyers

Common Injuries Resulting from Drunk Driving Accidents

Drunk driving accidents often lead to serious injuries, such as:

• Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs): These injuries can cause long-term cognitive impairment and affect victims’ daily lives.
• Spinal cord injuries: Victims may face partial or complete paralysis and require lifelong care and assistance.
• Fractures and broken bones: Multiple fractures or broken bones can result from the impact of a drunk driving collision.
• Internal injuries: These injuries may not be immediately apparent, but they can have long-term health consequences.
• Emotional trauma: Survivors often suffer from anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

These injuries can lead to substantial medical costs, loss of income, pain and suffering, and other significant losses.

Parties Liable for Your Injuries in Nebraska

In Nebraska, the drunk driver is typically the primary liable party in a drunk driving accident. However, other parties may be evaluated based on the circumstances. Nebraska law includes a statutory cause of action for certain injuries or property damage caused by an intoxicated minor, which can apply to social hosts, people who procured alcohol, or retailers under specified conditions. Our attorneys investigate the circumstances surrounding the accident to identify all potentially liable parties and pursue available compensation from them.

Liability can also be affected by Nebraska’s comparative negligence rules, which may reduce your recovery if an insurance company claims you were partly at fault. Under Nebraska’s comparative negligence law, recovery may be barred if your negligence is equal to or greater than the total negligence of the persons against whom recovery is sought. In an Omaha drunk driving accident, insurers sometimes argue that a victim was speeding, distracted, or failed to wear a seatbelt to limit what they have to pay. We gather and organize the evidence needed to respond to these arguments, including crash reports, witness statements, and, when appropriate, expert analysis of how the collision occurred.

How Nebraska DUI Laws Affect Your Civil Claim

Many people assume that a criminal DUI case and a civil injury claim are the same thing, but they are handled in different courts and follow different rules. A criminal case focuses on whether the driver violated Nebraska’s drunk driving laws and what penalties they should face. Your civil claim, on the other hand, is about whether the impaired driver and any other parties should compensate you for the harm you suffered in the crash.

Evidence from the DUI investigation often plays an important role in a civil case. Police observations, field sobriety tests, and blood alcohol content results can all help show that the driver was impaired when the collision occurred. Even if the criminal case is still pending or does not result in a conviction, it may still be possible to prove fault in a civil claim because the legal standard of proof is different. We review the criminal file, when available, and use those documents alongside other evidence to support your position.

It is also important to be aware of timing. Nebraska law sets deadlines, known as statutes of limitations, for filing personal injury lawsuits after a drunk driving accident. Under Nebraska law, the general deadline for personal injury claims is four years, but the applicable deadline can vary based on the specific facts, claims, parties, governmental involvement, or other circumstances. Waiting too long can limit your options. By speaking with an attorney sooner rather than later, you give yourself more time to gather records, understand how your injuries are progressing, and make thoughtful choices about whether to resolve the case through settlement or pursue litigation in an Omaha-area court.